


Tales of Praesarys

by sneakyroguethief



Series: Tales of Praesarys [1]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Pathfinder (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Adventure, F/F, F/M, Gen, High Fantasy, Hijinks & Shenanigans, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Character of Color, M/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-03-17 23:53:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 30,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13669935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sneakyroguethief/pseuds/sneakyroguethief
Summary: Unintended consequences bring together a thief, a cleric, a druid, a wizard, and a fighter for adventure.





	1. An Evening Like Any Other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of an adventure

Cenobia hummed merrily as he prepared the dishes for the evening meal at the Dragon’s Tooth Inn and Tavern, same as he had done for the last nineteen years.  Without so much as a sound, he felt cool hands wrap about his waist and a bony chin settled on his left shoulder.

“How are things coming along, _ussta che_?” a pale ginger elf purred in his ear.

Cenobia’s full lips pulled back into a playful smile as he looked over at his boyfriend. “They would go faster if you weren’t distracting me, _d’anthe uss_.”  He pulled from Zintiel’s loose grip and finished the last of his preparations.  “I thought you had plans with Aces tonight.”

Zintiel leaned against the counter, casually swiping a few pieces of meat.  “Nah… he had to reschedule on me.  Got word about some _huge_ tourney halfway across Praesarys.  Couldn’t pass up on the opportunity.”  He shrugged.  “I don’t blame him.  But he’ll be gone for a week or so, and I didn’t want to be away for that long, not with Diana talking about leaving.  But more importantly, I’d hate to be the one betting against him,” he winked.

“Oh yeah? And what would you even do with all that money if you had it?” Cenobia poked jovially.

Zintiel’s bright green eyes lit up at the mention of shiny things.  “I dunno… maybe I’d give some to mum so she wouldn’t have to work so hard.  Or maybe we’d use it to go somewhere fun.  Or maybe I wouldn’t spend it all and just add it to my hoard.”

Cenobia chuckled, a light breathy laugh that sounded like a breeze on a summer’s day.  “You do hoard like a dragon.”

“I do!” Zintiel beamed. He tucked Cenobia’s long curly hair behind a pointed ear and leaned up to kiss him on the nose.   “Well, I’m gonna go hang out.  I’ll work if y’all need me, but if not, I think I might just take a nap in the rafters.”

“Good!  Rest is good for you!” Cenobia encouraged.

Zintiel rolled his eyes at his boyfriend.  “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”

“You’re a stubborn ass, you know that?” Cenobia chided playfully and laughed. “It’s a good thing you’re so charming.”

The pale elf snorted and winked as he turned to exit the kitchen.  He knew Cenobia was right, but it didn’t mean he was going to admit it out loud.  He passed his little sister as he left, tousling her long wavy hair that was the same shade of bright auburn as his.  His sister was only little in years alone.  She had only just reached adulthood.  The rate at which she had aged seemed closer to that of an average human’s, like that of her mother, but it was always uncertain which parent a half-elf what would take after in the long run.  Regardless, the young woman stood a few inches taller than Zintiel and was built twice as broad with thick muscle.  Where his gifts were speed and subtly, Diana’s were strength and endurance.

“Ugh!  Zin!  Come on!” she complained and pulled her now mussed hair free from its tie.  She passed Cenobia a slip with dinner orders on it and re-tied her hair back in its low ponytail.

The pale elf snickered and vanished from sight.

“It’s looking like a busy one tonight.  Big party of nobles and their guards from the capital,” she sighed, “in addition to the regular crowd.”  She had been in fairly high spirits before the rowdy group had arrived, her mood quickly soured after interacting with them.  The nobles and their muscle seemed to be on the last leg of their tavern crawl, and they had left their manners at the last bar.

“I’ll head out there in a moment to help,” Cenobia told her.  Diana opened her mouth to argue, but he spoke first, “Let him rest.  If things get too hectic, we know where he’ll be.”

“But--” Diana insisted.  Her brother’s boyfriend rarely left the kitchen when he was working shifts at her mother’s inn.  He and Zin had been together ever since she could remember, working at the tavern and helping raise her.

“He rarely takes time to rest, Diana.  And there’s no reason I can’t be out on the floor with you.  What do you think I did before you were around?”

“Fine,” she agreed, grumpily taking her tray back through to the bar area.

Cenobia grabbed an apron from the hook on the kitchen wall, tied it about his hips, and followed her out.  The tavern had really filled up in the time he’d been in the kitchen.  He pulled out a pad of paper and went to work taking orders at the tables.  Once everyone had been seen to, he carried his orders to the middle-aged human woman who stood behind the bar towering over him by nearly a foot.  She took the paper, and her rich brown eyes quickly processed the orders.  She pulled out a tray and began filling the first table’s drinks.

“Letting him take the night off?” Gaia asked with a knowing smile.  She pushed her dark brown hair back from her freckled copper-skinned face before starting on the next set of drinks.

“He’ll come down if we need him,” Cenobia replied as he made of to deliver drinks to a nearby table.  “I’d be more inclined to ask him if he hadn’t suggested the rest himself,” he added when he returned for the next set.

Gaia placed a hand on Cenobia’s, holding him at the bar.  Her weathered voice was soft and understanding.  “I know, hon, I know.  He’s been stressing over Diana going off adventuring on her own more’n I have.  We both know how he gets.”

“That we do, mum,” Cenobia smiled wearily.  He continued making his rounds with the drinks, working in perfect tandem with Diana.  He too had been anxious over Diana’s desire to go travel the world, in search of adventure that she wouldn’t find by working at her mother’s tavern.  The thought of her being grown enough to leave home was a significant one to all of them.  She’d been poring over the job boards in the months even before she’d turned eighteen.  And now she had offers lined up from a few of the more respected mercenary guilds, and there was nothing any of her family could do or say to convince her to stay.  She had her first interviews the next day, starting with the Bladesongs.

He returned to Gaia again, though this time with no fresh orders, and found a fresh glass of water waiting for him.  He drained it without a thought.  “Thank you, mum.”  He slid the glass back across the counter to her.  Even after all this time, he still moved gracefully across the floor, the sweat upon his brow the only sign that he was out of practice.

“It’s been a little while since you’ve been out on the floor,” Gaia commented.  

“See?  We’re managing just fine,” he replied steadily, casually wiping his face on the sleeve of his blouse.

“Sparkles up in the ceiling again?”  A drowsy voice floated up from beneath the bar.

“Oh!  My Lady!  I hadn’t realised you were asleep!  My apologies for waking you,” Cenobia sputtered.

“Oi, keep that ‘Lady’ business outta here, will ya?” the gathlain muttered, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.  “Ain’t no lady here, just Sofia.  And I was only sleepin’ till I could start drinkin’ again, alri’?” she slurred.  She fluttered over the counter to an empty seat, where a small glass of Gaia’s finest already awaited her.

Cenobia nodded.  “Would you care for anything to eat tonight to go with your drink?”

“Huh?  Nah, I’m good, sweetie, thanks though,” Sofia smiled and waved him off.  She might regret it later, but she wasn’t feeling particularly hungry at the moment.  The din in her head was particularly loud that night, and she wanted to drown it out.  And she planned to.

The tall human gentleman wearing dark green robes seated on the stool next to Sofia grabbed Cenobia’s attention.  “Umm, excuse me?  I’ll have whatever the special is tonight to go with my ale, if you please?”

“Certainly, sir!” Cenobia bowed to the guest and rushed back to the kitchen to assemble a plate.

“Did I perchance hear you were of the nobility?” the man leaned over curiously to the gathlain.

“Ugh!” Sofia rolled her eyes and groaned.  “What do you _want_?”

“Oh, nothing.  Nothing at all.  Just wondering what you’re doing out here is all.”

“Who wants to know?” she asked suspiciously.

“Nicolas Cage, m’lady.  Nicolas Cage, the _renowned_ mapmaker, treasure hunter, and explorer.  Perhaps you’ve heard of me.”  The man extended his hand towards her.

Sofia’s strange prismatic eyes flickered down to his and then back up at his face.  “Nope, never heard of you.  Now are you gonna let me drink in peace?”

“Oh, of course, of course… I was just making conversation, but I can leave you alone no problem.”

“Good.”  She dumped the rest of her drink down her throat and slid the glass forward for Gaia to refill it.  The gathlain had the constitution of a goliath.  And she drank like it too.  She periodically stayed at various taverns in the area, though this one had become a favourite of hers.  The barkeep let her sleep in a small cupboard under the bar so she could sleep between her binge drinking.  And moreover, Gaia didn’t ask her questions, not about her family or her home or the reason for her drinking.  She kept the drink coming so long as Sofia supplied the coin, and Gaia would sometimes throw in a meal or two as well at no extra cost.

Nicolas Cage redirected his conversation to the middle-aged human woman across the bar.  “My lady of the bar, would you mind refilling my tankard please?”

Gaia smirked at him.  “Of course, hon.  But please, Gaia is fine.”

Just then Cenobia came back through the door with a hot plate of food for the man and set it before him with another bow before making another round about the bar, making certain that all the customers’ needs were met.

“Ah!  Wonderful!”  Cage looked eagerly down at his meal and tucked in.  “Lady Gaia, are all the young folks working here your kin?  I thought I heard them refer to you as their mother.”

She chuckled, “Well, the red-haired girl with the freckles is mine. The lad who brought you your meal is dating her half-brother, who’s around here, somewhere…” Her gaze floated up to the shadows of the rafters where Zintiel liked to lurk when he wasn’t working. “But at the end of the day, they are all mine, and that’s what matters most.”

“Madam, you have a lovely family.” Cage raised his glass to the barkeep. “Even the ones I cannot see.”

Gaia covered a laugh. “To be fair, most don’t. Unless he wants them to. But he’s always looking out for his family.”

Cage turned to look at Diana as she worked the floor in conjunction with Cenobia and then back to Gaia, noting the soft point of Diana’s ears and her much paler skin. “Your daughter looks quite a bit different from you. Might I inquire of her father?”

Gaia shrugged, “So long as you don’t ask her or my son, sure.”

The man gave her a puzzled look.

“Their father is a Winter elf. They take after his looks mostly.”

“My! How uncommon!” Cage said in a hushed tone. “I don’t think I’ve ever met one before!”

“They don’t really live on the surface much anymore. My  _rumag_ is a rare one indeed.” Gaia excused herself from the conversation to fill additional orders from Diana and Cenobia and refill drinks for the other patrons around the counter.

The human man looked curiously at the woman who used Draconic to refer to her lover, though he was more curious about was why he shouldn’t bring the man up in front of her children. Perhaps there was bad blood there. He went back to pestering Sofia some more, asking her about her favourite drinks of Gaia’s and learned that, amongst other things, the gathlain had an extensive knowledge of and an even finer palette for alcohol than his own. In addition, she actually made her own brews which she did sell to the bars in the area on occasion.

As the evening went on, the large party of nobles and their guards became more and more unruly, to the point where Gaia had needed to cut them off. Which only served to take them from lewd to acrimonious.

After a few of them got handsy with Diana, Cenobia took over service for the large party. Mostly so Diana wouldn’t assault them.

Cenobia meekly approached the head of the party, the noble whose birthday it was, and also coincidentally the drunkest of the lot, to hand him his bill for the evening. As he was walking away, he felt someone grip his wrist and spin him around.

“Hey! What’s this?!” the young human man asked loudly, spitting in Cenobia’s face. “I asked for another round for me and my mates, and I won’t be paying until we’ve had our fill of drink!” He pushed the paper back in Cenobia’s hand and shoved him away towards the bar.

The bronze elf stumbled forward, tripping on the hem of his long skirt and falling into a nearby table. The blow of the table winded him, causing tears to come to his eyes. The party of drunken nobles roared with laughter, but the patrons at the table he’d fallen into reached out to make sure he was okay as he stumbled to his feet.

There was a clatter from behind him. The sound of tankards and glasses being disturbed by something sudden landing on the table.

Zintiel stalked toward the young man across the tabletop, his voice low but very clear. He loomed over the man, seeming much taller than his naturally petite stature. “Excuse me,  _friend_ , but you have been  _very nicely_  asked to pay your bill and leave. So you would best be heeding that request, or else  _I’m_ going to have to get involved. And I assure you, I’m not nearly as nice as my boyfriend. So, leave your gold now, and get gone. Understand,  _friend_?”

An empty tankard soared through the air and hit the ginger elf in the back of the head.

“Wrong answer.” Zintiel grinned maliciously and pulled a dagger from his cloak. He threw down a smoke pellet and vanished from atop the table. His voice was hard to pinpoint a location as it sinisterly echoing around the room, “Should’ve read the sign when you walked in the door,  _friend_.”

Shouts rang out, and chairs toppled over as the party looked around desperately for the pale elf who had threatened them.

From under a plaque by the door, Diana cracked her knuckles and pulled a blunted practice sword from her belt, rushing eagerly back towards the nobles and their guards. The sign read: ‘The Golden Rule of the Dragon’s Tooth: When we ask you to leave, it won’t be with blows, but if you draw first blood, anything goes.’ These assholes had drawn first blood so now all bets were off, and Diana was excited to escort them out of her mother’s establishment with as much physical force as it would take.

Seeing how riled up Zintiel and Diana were already, Gaia yelled out into the fray, “Kids!  Kids!  Go easy on them!  And for Bahamut’s sake, please don’t break my house!”

Cenobia slipped out of the smoke over to the bar and Gaia.

“Are you alright, dear?” Gaia asked him, reaching out and touching his shoulder.  The soft glow of silvery light that emanated from her hand was hardly noticeable, save for to Cenobia who felt the effects of the minor healing.  Nothing broken, just a few bruises.  “Cenobia, I know it’s been a little while since Zintiel’s… been in this kind of situation, so can you just make sure everyone stays breathing, hon?”

“Of course, mum.”  Cenobia dutifully rushed back into the chaos in the centre of the barroom.  It had been over eighteen years since his boyfriend’s days in the Thieves Guild, but Zintiel had been in that line of work for four times as long and old habits die hard.

But instead of using his dagger to do physical harm to the unwelcome guests, Zintiel was using it to relieve them of their purses.  His sister was sure to make quick work of the nobles and their guards.  He was a little out of practice with his daggers, and the space was far too confined for him to use his bow.  It wasn’t that he wasn’t any good with his daggers anymore, but his training had involved more… lethal applications for the most part and he knew Gaia wouldn’t approve of bodies on the barroom floor.  He saw Cenobia wander into the fog, going around to check on a few that Diana had already dealt with and heal up their wounds.

“Hey, you!  Summer elf!  What’re you doing to them?  Stop it!” called out one of the nobles.  He picked up a chair and hurled it at Cenobia.  Just in time, Zintiel launched himself in front of the chair, shielding his boyfriend.

“Oof!” he tumbled forward onto the unconscious bodies of nobles and guardsmen alike from the impact.  “Hey, love.  How’s it going?” he asked Cenobia breathlessly.  He leaned casually on an elbow, as if according to plan.

The bronze elf just tilted his head and blinked.  “ _I’m_ fine, hon.  Are _you_ alright?”

“Oh, fine, fine.  Wasn’t about to let you get hurt now.  Especially, not for trying to do some good, y’know?”  He looked back over his shoulder at Diana.

Cenobia followed his gaze.  “These boys aren’t the only one I’m going to be healing tonight.  You should get in there and help her as best you can… _Without_ killing them.”

Zintiel winked at him.  “I’ll do my best.”  He pushed the chair off him and kicked the seat of it so it slid into the guardsman nearest him, knocking him to the floor.  Zintiel took the opportunity to smash the butt of his dagger into the base of the man’s skull, rendering him unconscious.

Many of the patrons had lined up in front of the counter to form a defensive wall in front of Gaia.  While it was fairly common knowledge that Gaia could handle herself in a brawl, like mother like daughter after all, Gaia was well loved by her regulars, and no one wanted her to have to get her hands dirty or for her to accidentally get hurt.  One of the people in the line bumped into Nicolas Cage, jostling him forward.  He got up from his stool and looked around, suddenly realising the danger around him.  He called to Gaia over the cacophony, “This is looking nasty…” his eyes narrowed as he watched the two were having to deal with nearly two dozen much larger adversaries, and those sort of unfair odds simply didn’t sit well with the tall man. “Do your kids need some help out there? I could lend a hand or two if say… you provide me with some extra special ale on the house?”

“Any _non-lethal_ help you’re willing to give would not go unappreciated,” replied the barkeep with a subtle smile.

The man shrugged and cut through the folk surrounding the bar.  His bear was in the stables of the inn, but he still had plenty of tricks at his disposal. Even unarmed, a druid of his wily nature was something to be wary of.  The wizened explorer mentally went through his list of spells and found that most of them were going to be far more destructive than his host would probably appreciate given that most of the times he’d needed them were when he was exploring the wilds.

“All right… let’s stick to parlour tricks then.”  Keeping himself relatively subtle, he studied the ebb and flow of the fighting.  With a flick of his hands and a whispered word, he summoned the power to heat the metal of one of the guards’ swords, making him drop the blade before he could strike Diana from behind.  The young woman nodded at him appreciatively and continued brawling with the guards surrounding the lead noble.  Next, he pulled out a wand from his embroidered green robes and cast Daze from it upon two of the guards in front of Diana.  The armoured men stared uselessly off into space as the half-elf threw them to the ground.

“That’s not fair! No magic in a bar fight!” one of the nobles shouted and threw his empty tankard.

Nicolas Cage ducked out of the way, and the heavy metal cup soared over his head and hit the bar behind him, shattering several glass bottles of alcohol.

“Son of a bitch!” Sofia screeched over the din.  “Kill the shit alcohol if you must-- Sorry, Gaia, but you know which ones I’m talking about-- but why you gotta come in here and break my favourite booze, huh?!”  She fluttered on over to the party, specifically the nobles in the centre of their dwindling ring of guards, and set several of their fine clothing ablaze.

The young men ran from the bar screaming, the leader of the group among them.  “You will regret this night!” he yelled vengefully as he fled.

Before he’d made it out the door, both Nicolas Cage and Cenobia attempted to summon water to put the lads’ clothes out, causing them to become incredibly drenched upon their exit.  Half the guards who were still awake rushed after their charges while the other half helped carry their fallen comrades from the bar.

“And stay gone!” Sofia yelled after them.

Gaia sighed, “So much for a nice quiet evening.”  She watched as Cenobia, Diana, Zintiel, Cage, and Sofia returned to her.  Sofia and Cenobia appeared untouched.  Zintiel walked a bit of a limp, and Diana’s bottom lip was split, and her shirt torn.  Cage looked a bit more dishevelled than usual but overall not too worse for wear.  When the smoke had cleared, she could see the full extent of the damage the bar brawl had wrought on her establishment.  Broken dishes and chairs and a large puddle of water, but otherwise fine.  Cenobia and perhaps other willing spell-casters could mend the dishes and chairs given time.  The water could be mopped up.  She hoped these would be the worst they would face for the evening’s debacle.  She announced to the crowd that had gathered around the bar, “I’ll make it worth the time of every person who helps me put this place back together.”

There was a raucous cheer.  Everyone pitched in to clean up the mess the brawl with the drunks had made, and by the end of the night, the incident had been all but forgotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ussta che: (Drow) my love  
> d'anthe uss: (Drow) dear one


	2. Arrested?! [Diana]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Consequences catch up to the party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pt 1 of 4 of Arrested?! chapters

Diana rose bright and early the next day feeling sore and agitated. It wasn't the first time she'd thrown people out of the tavern, but whenever the cause of a brawl was some high-born brats pulling some of their bullshit, it left a lingering anger in her mind.

She knew just the thing to make herself feel better. She grabbed her practice sword and went down to the training yard behind the inn as she did most mornings, snagging a hot roll on her way out through the kitchen. Her mother had left her a plate of breakfast on the kitchen table before delivering the morning meals to the patrons staying at the inn. She'd come back for the rest of it once she'd worked out some of her aggression and stiffness on the training dummies.

Her lip split again as she bit into the bread, the course meal on the underside of it chafed at her cut. She ate through the pain and pulled out her blunted weapon. Assuming a fighting stance, she began to pace around the dummy, envisioning it as a real opponent. She hadn't had much in the way of sparring partners growing up so she had grown accustomed to picturing the dummies as more than just straw and sackcloth.

Her mom had shown her the basics of handling a dangerous weapon, enough to keep her from hurting herself, but that was about all she had been able to show her. Her brother wasn't really that great with a sword, but he had taught her the basics of fighting, like how to move her feet or focus her attention on all the little details of an opponent's movements or how to find an opening in someone's guard or to guard against sneaky assholes like himself. He had even sparred with her a little bit in her youth, but she quickly outmatched him, and after a few too many accidents requiring Cenobia's healing, they had stopped sparring together. She had never even seen Cenobia pick up a weapon her entire life, save from taking them away from her when she was little. Everything else she had learned with a sword was on her own. After hours upon hours of practice and applying the things she had been taught, she could now easily see a foe before her, where their guard would be and how to slip past it, and with surprising speed, she would lunge and slash at her target.

She let out grunts of rage as she hacked at the figure made of canvas and straw. She tried to keep her stance and forms through her anger, knowing that her emotions made her technique sloppier. She needed to get all this out of her system before her interview with the Bladesongs this afternoon. They weren't her first choice, but they were a solid mercenary company. They were local, which she knew would make her mother and brother happy. But she was tired of her little corner of Praesarys. She wanted to see the stormy beaches to the south, the mountains to the west, the endless forests to the east, and all the Menagerie in between. Even the unfathomable dangers of the Central City would be a welcome break from lingering forever in Shadewood. Though even she knew that last thought to be madness.

She reached for her waterskin at her side and took a hearty swig. Perhaps it was the worry of more trouble like last night coming in her absence eating at her, that she wouldn’t be around to protect her family if more came around or even if those fools came back. But if last night had proved anything, it was that even in times of trouble, her mother’s patrons would protect her from harm. Cenobia was right, they had been just fine before her and they’d do just fine without her again. It was time for her to see what else was out there.

In her intense focus, she failed to notice the heavily armoured warriors in the regalia of the Praesaryn Guard until she was surrounded.

“Well, well, I can certainly see who did most of the bruising to my men last night.” A human woman wearing the same silvery mirrorlike armour stepped forward. The engraved sigil of the Guard on her armour was outlined with a faint glowing purple aura, denoting her rank.

Diana wiped sweat from her brow. "I did. Mostly."

The woman looked unconvinced.

"So, um, who are you, and what do you want?" Diana asked impatiently, gripping her sword a little tighter.

"I am Captain Elyse Drescher, and I am here to collect you. If you come  _peacefully_ , then no one has to get hurt." The officer's eyes shifted unmistakably to the inn and then back to Diana. "Understand?"

The half-elf's jaw clenched angrily. "So I just have to come with you, and you leave my family and my home alone? They're safe?"

"Yes, your mother and your home are safe," Captain Drescher answered. "My crew and I have only been ordered to bring you and everyone else who was involved in the assault on the High Captain's men and kin arrested."

"The High Captain?" There was an edge of panic in Diana's voice.  _Shit. Fuck. I'm never going to get to see the world now. I'll be lucky to get out of this with my life, much less my freedom._  Her stomach growled, and she wished she'd at least finished her breakfast before coming out to practice.

Captain Drescher pulled out a pair of metal handcuffs and held them out to Diana. "Am I going to need these? Or are you going to come quietly like I asked?"

Diana frowned dejectedly and crossed her arms, taking a look back at the Dragon's Tooth. "I'll come quietly."

"Good girl." She put the cuffs away. Her fellow guards closed around Diana and walked in formation around her. "Compliance might even lighten whatever sentence the High Captain has in mind. I could even use an intelligent bruiser like you in my squad if he'll let me." She led the way back to the Tower of the Guard in the heart of the Capital. "But who knows what he has in store for you."


	3. Arrested?! [Nicolas Cage]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pt 2 of 4 of Arrested?! chapters

A gentle knock at the door awoke Nicolas Cage the next morning. He wrapped his rumpled green robe around him and blearily opened the door. Gaia stood outside with a plate of breakfast for him and a small sack of fish for his bear.

“Thank you, m’lady,” the man took the food and settled down at his desk, pushing aside the maps of the area he had been working on. Gaia smirked and rolled her eyes at his constant formalities and moved on to the next door with her tray. Once the door shut again, Cage eagerly devoured his breakfast before taking the bag of fish down to the stables.

Wick was the druid’s longest-lived familiar; he’d had the brown bear from a cub. Wick was now a rather large and nimble, self-sufficient, and oddly intelligent for a bear. All these probably factored in as to why he hadn’t fallen victim to the same fate as Cage’s previous companions.

The large brown bear was lounging in a patch of sunlight when he caught the scent of fresh trout. His rounded ears perked up though he didn’t move just yet. He waited and listened for the footsteps that came with the smell of his meal. With the footsteps came the scent of his human, the smell of strong drink, the strange and unpleasant sweet florals of his near nightly mating rituals, and sweat and accumulated grime. His human smelled worse than he did. Or so Wick thought.

“Hey, buddy!” the druid greeted the bear affectionately. He opened the door to the stall, which finally roused the bear from his resting place. “Got some breakfast for ya!” The man dumped the pile of fish out in the hay for his bear. Wick ate leisurely while Cage pulled a brush out of his robe’s pocket and began sorting the burs and mats from the bear’s thick brown fur that had accumulated on their trek through the wilds.

The bear didn’t mind the strange affection; it saved him the effort of doing so himself. It was something he’d grown accustomed to in the years he’d been with his human companion. He heard the faint crackle of hay underfoot, of metal clinking together. Sounds that could mean trouble. Wick grunted loudly as he saw several humanoid figures in armour approaching.

“Now, now, Wick, I didn’t think that last tangle was all  _that_  bad,” the druid soothed obliviously.

Wick grunted more insistently, hoping the human would notice before he was surrounded.

A young officer of the Praesaryn Guard cleared his throat. “Um, sir?”

Cage’s eyes widened, and he stood up very straight and very abruptly, dropping the brush in Wick’s stall.

“Sir, might you be the one they call Nicolas Cage?” the lad asked again. His armour seemed to be a size or two too large for him, and his voice was rather pitchy. His pointed ears stuck out awkwardly from under his helm.

Cage looked around at the contingent of Guards, all wearing the same shiny mirrorlike armour as the young elf who’d spoken, though his sigil of the Guard glowed a pale purple. He tried to come up with a plan.  _Can I talk my way out of this? Six official Guardsmen?_ He internally laughed at the notion.  _Well, maybe. This guy who’s leading the group seems nervous enough that I might just be able to get away with my bullshit._ He took a breath.  _Here goes nothing…_

“Who’s asking?” the druid replied casually, stepping out of Wick’s stall but leaving the door open.

“I’m Ser Thomne Inenos, Lieutenant under Captain Drescher, sir. I have orders to bring in a Nicolas Cage for questioning,” the young man sputtered quickly.

“He just got promoted, can ya tell?” one of the Guards behind him laughed goodnaturedly.

“You must have made your house very proud, to have been promoted at such a young age,” the druid complimented smoothly. “But I’m afraid I haven’t seen the man you’re looking for. Benjamin Gates is my name. I’ll let you know if I hear of anything though.”

Ser Thomne crossed his arms with a loud clanking of his armour and a frown. “Huh… our reports were that he was staying at this inn and that he had a bear with him, and you were just tending to that bear in there. And you do match the description we were given for this man, even down to the green robe…”

A bead of sweat trickled down Cage’s face. He was about to be caught. Perhaps his long legs could outrun the Guards in their heavy armour. It might be worth a shot. His lips had barely parted to give Wick the cue for a distraction.

Ser Thomne spoke first, “Do you know of any other middle-aged human men with receding brown hair and blue eyes that are staying here?”

“Why, it’s certainly possible! Surely I can’t be the only one who looks like that here! Perhaps you should ask Gaia. She runs this establishment,” Cage suggested merrily, quite certain that he had successfully managed to evade whatever trouble these Guards had brought with them.

“An excellent idea. My thanks to you, sir.” The young Ser and his fellow Guards turned to leave the stables.

Cage chuckled to himself once he thought they were out of earshot and went back to pick up his brush from the stall. His plan had worked, at least temporarily. He would have time to pack up his things and get out of dodge before they figured out that Benjamin Gates was just one of his many aliases. He locked up Wick’s stall again to return to his room and pack up his things. With any luck, he’d be halfway across the country within the hour. He was so lost in figuring the logistics of his plan that he failed to notice that Ser Thomne had turned about and was headed back towards him. He walked straight into the young elf’s hard metal armour.

“Oh! Goodness, Ser Thomne! I’m so sorry!” Cage sincerely apologised. “I clearly wasn’t watching where I was going.”

The elf frowned, this time not out of confusion. All friendliness had left his demeanour, though a bit of that timidity still lingered. “Clearly.” In one hand was a pair of manacles and in the other, a long bit of paper. “It occurred to me that I’d heard the name Benjamin Gates before. I have a list of your known aliases, Cage.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” the druid lied, instinctively taking a step back from the young man.

“Nicolas Cage. Also known as Benjamin Gates. Also known as Cameron Poe. Also known as Stanley Goodspeed. Also known as Castor Troy. Also known as Edward Malus,” Thomne listed off, holding the shackles aloft. Another of the Guards behind him took them and moved towards the druid. “Enough with the games, Cage. We have you surrounded. You’re not getting away.” His voice cracked slightly, which took away a little of the young man’s edge, but no one laughed.

Nicolas Cage grimaced. This was not how he had planned on spending his day. He was almost impressed by how many of his false names that they had managed to acquire.

Again, he thought about running. There was an exit on the other side of the stables. Before the Guard with the cuffs could reach him, he pivoted back and took off toward Wick. He unlocked the stall and yanked it open. “Wick! Do the thing!” he called and sprinted toward the exit.

Wick looked up from his fish and groaned irritably before pulling up on his back feet and turning in a circle. He proceeded through his list of tricks while a few of the Guards watched in amazement.

Ser Thomne, however, was not one of them. He frowned and held up a hand towards Cage. “I really didn’t want to have to do things this way, but it seems you have forced my hand.”

The druid stopped, mid-stride, momentum still carrying him forward. He tumbled forward onto the ground, unable to move, unable to speak. He watched as the Guard with the manacles bound his hands behind him and hoisted him back to his feet.

“Now if someone will relatch the bear’s stall, we can be on our way.” Ser Thomne lowered his hand, allowing Cage to move again. He took hold of the tall man’s arm and marched him all the way back to the Tower of the Guard.


	4. Arrested?! [Sofia]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pt 3 of 4 of Arrested?! chapters

Sofia rolled out of her cubby-hole in the late morning of the day following the bar brawl. She grimaced as she remembered that several of her favourite brews had been smashed the previous night. She considered attempting to remake them, but that would take time. And at the moment, all she really wanted was a cure for the monstrous hangover ailing her.

She fluttered out the door and into the main street. She hissed at the sun and its skull-piercing brightness and quickly swooped into the shadows of a nearby alleyway, floating towards the small apothecary that would have exactly what she needed. Sofia couldn’t help but smile when thinking about the old tiefling woman who ran it.

Like Gaia, Telisa had a way of making a body feel welcome no matter their station in life. While Gaia had the ales, Telisa had the cures to all ails, or so she claimed. Sofia wasn’t about to question her on it. The gathlain was quite magically gifted in her own right, but she’d never gotten the knack for crafting poultices and things of the healing nature. Blowing things up was more her style.

Sofia prepared herself for the odd earthy fungal scent of the tiefling’s shop and felt her stomach turn.  _Ah shit! Not now! I’m almost there!_  Her altitude dropped, and her palms struck the rough siding of a building as she retched. When she’d finished, she pulled a handkerchief out of her tiny satchel and wiped her face. She looked at it and vanished her sick from it before stuffing it back in her bag. She wearily pushed off the wall and drifted back through the air toward her Telisa’s place. Even as worn out as she was, Sofia could always find her way there through those back alleys, even if it was in the pitch dark of night.

However, she never made it there. Just before her arrival to the apothecary, the gathlain wizard felt a sharp crack on the back of her skull. She vaguely processed the ground coming up to meet her before she was stuffed into an itchy burlap sack. She remembered thinking before she passed out that she was glad she had gotten sick  _before_  she’d been stuffed in that bag because having to sit in her own sick would have been incredibly gross.


	5. Arrested?! [Zintiel & Cenobia]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pt 4 of 4 of Arrested?! chapters

Gaia squeezed Zintiel's shoulder affectionately. "Thanks, hon. I need to get back to the bar, okay? I love you!" she called as she retreated back to the main area of the tavern with her tray of food.

"I love you too," Zintiel replied. He wiped his hands on his pants and exited through the back door into the training yard to investigate. However, he didn't get much of an opportunity to search for his sister as he was met with several of the Praesaryn Guard with their bows levelled at his face.

"You are the one called Zintiel Tlintaris, are you not?" a single Guard fluttered forward from behind the half-circle of archers. Her stern expression made it clear that she wasn't going to put up with any of his bullshit.

Zintiel held up his hands. "I am. And you are?"

She crossed her arms. "Lieutenant Violetta Mistal. And you are under arrest for the assault of the High Captain's nephew."

The pale elf arched one of his brows and cursed under his breath. " _Vithez uoi'nota, d'jal l'klekky ap'zen..._ "* He sighed. "I take it you already have my sister?"

Lieutenant Mistal looked at him curiously, clearly not expecting this to go so... peacefully. She had prepared several plans in case he attempted to run or attack, but this was unexpected. She cleared her throat. "Yes, we do. And--"

"She is unharmed?" he interrupted.

"As far as I know."

Zintiel offered his hands forward for the inevitable shackles that would bind his wrists. "Very well. Let's get this over with then." He never thought this would be the thing he was arrested for, especially considering his Thieves Guild days were nearly two decades past.

The gathlain tilted her head to the side.

"You gonna cuff me or not? I'll come willingly."

"This is not how I expected this to go," she frowned. "You have somewhat of a reputation."

"Yes, and you're holding my family. So the way I figure, I don't give you any trouble, and I don't make any more trouble for them."

For the first time since he'd seen her, a smile crept across the lieutenant's lips. "You're a smart kid." She held up a pair of manacles. "Am I going to need these?"

"No, ma'am," Zintiel answered respectfully.

"Good lad." She reattached them to her belt. "Now we've got one more charge to take into custody before we head back to headquarters. We figured you'd be together so I was sent to collect both of you."

Zintiel's stomach sank. He hoped against hope that he didn't know already know who she was looking for. The word "No" escaped from his lips.

"Do you know the whereabouts of the one known as Cenobia Halloran?" Mistal inquired.

His breathing shook as he tried to process.  _No, he-- he helped. Why? This isn't-- No. I could run. Give him a distraction. He could get away. My life doesn't matter. He could survive. They wouldn't find him. But he's-- They would find him. He'd turn himself in. This is wrong. He shouldn't be-- I need to-- Fuck, damn it, shit._  His knees bent as his body instinctively wanted to run to match the thoughts that swirled in his head.

A sudden snapping of a twig and the arrows that had been facing Zintiel turned abruptly to face the forest where the sound had originated.

The basketful of fruit and vegetables from Cenobia's garden fell from his grasp as his hands shot up in the air with a sharp gasp.

"There you are." Lieutenant Mistal turned and fluttered gracefully toward the frightened elf.

Zintiel lunged forward after her. "Wait, please," he begged, reaching out and catching the officer by the elbow. "He had nothing to do with this. He was just making sure that those at the party were able to leave with their lives!"

Lieutenant Mistal spun about in his grip, a look for pure disgust and rage on her face, and grabbed his wrist and threw him across the training yard. She handed one of her archers a pair of shackles and then continued toward Cenobia.

The archer forced Zintiel up from the ground and bound his wrists behind him.

"Cenobia Halloran?" Mistal asked with an accusatory tone.

"Y-- yes?" the elf stammered.

"I am here to place you under arrest for the assault of the High Captain's nephew and deliver you to the headquarters of the Praesaryn Guard. Do you understand?"

Cenobia began to shake uncontrollably, and tears streamed down his face. He couldn't find his voice so he simply nodded.

"Am I going to have put you in irons?" she asked sternly.

He shook his head, and his hands lowered to cover his face as he sobbed.

The gathlain almost felt bad bringing the young man in. If what the other had said was true, he really didn't deserve the punishment for the crimes his group had committed. A softness crept into her voice, "You'll come along without giving me any trouble?"

Cenobia nodded again. He tried to stop crying, but the tears kept coming and the more he tried to stop, the harder it became to breathe and the louder he sobbed. He'd never been in trouble with the law before, and he'd seen what had happened when Zintiel had tried to resist only moments ago. He tried to walk towards her but fell to his knees on the ground.

Lieutenant Mistal watched as the bronze elf began to hyperventilate. She pressed her lips together and made a decision. She quickly flew into Zintiel's face. "I'm going to unlock you. You try anything, and I will make you regret it. Understand?"

Zintiel's eyes never left Cenobia as he nodded. He felt the metal of the shackles come away from his wrists, and he was running to Cenobia. He sank to his knees beside his boyfriend and held him close. He repeated over and over, "Shh, shh, it's okay. I'm here. I'm here. I won't let them hurt you," as he stroked Cenobia's long curly hair comfortingly. "Just breathe, just breathe."

Once Cenobia had calmed down, Lieutenant Mistal dropped down to their level, her feet nearly brushing the ground. She spoke quietly, gently, at a volume just the three of them could hear. "I need to get you two back to headquarters before evening." Turning to face Cenobia, "Are you going to be okay to make the trip or am I going to have to find special circumstances to get you there?"

Zintiel spoke for his boyfriend, "He will be able to make it," and Cenobia nodded in agreement, though his body still quivered.

Her lips pressed together with that same sternness from earlier as she looked to Zintiel. "And  _you_ , am I going to have to put you back in those irons?"

"I am no threat to you or your Guards. It is not necessary."

"Good. That's what I like to hear." Lieutenant Mistal floated back up to her earlier height. "Alright! Let's move out!" she called loudly to her fellow Guards. The archers put away their weapons and surrounded the two elves as they marched them all the way to the capital.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally tried to give Cenobia his own chapter, but it just wasn't possible? No matter what, he was going to stumble across Z getting arrested and it just made the most sense for their chapters to be together.
> 
> *translation: [Drow] fucking hell, of all the shitty luck


	6. The Stone Cell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group awaits judgement for their crimes.

Diana paced the empty cell, her footsteps echoing off the solid stone walls. Bolted to the floor in the centre of the room was a solid metal table. She stared at the metal door that barred her from freedom. After about half an hour or so, the door opened, and she instinctively rushed towards it.

A tall human man was pushed into the room before the heavy door slammed shut again. He stumbled forward and banged his hip against the table. “Aw, piss,” he cursed under his breath.

“Are you alright?” Diana called out. When he looked up at her, she recognised the man from the bar brawl the night before.

“Yeah, it’ll just smart tomorrow.” He rubbed at the soreness and approached the half-elf. “You’re Gaia’s daughter, right? Diana?”

Diana nodded. “That’s me. I take it we’re gonna have company if they’re arresting everyone involved in the brawl yesterday.”

The tall man offered his hand to her. “Nicolas Cage.” He looked around the room with a grimace. “Not the usual place for introductions, but such as it is.”

“Such as it is,” she repeated dryly. “I think it’s just a matter of the rest of us being rounded up now.”

“Rest of us?” he echoed.

“Yeah, my brother, his boyfriend, and one of our regulars, Sofia.”

“Do you know what they want with us?”

“The Guard who brought you in didn’t tell you?”

“Nope. He just said I was wanted for questioning.”

“Huh. Well, I hate to inform you that you probably wouldn’t be in this cell with me if you were just wanted for questioning,” Diana replied sourly and crossed her arms. “Apparently we assaulted someone related to the High Captain. And also his guards, who it turns out weren’t just paid strong arms. They were official Praesaryn Guard.”

“Oh,” he mouthed, sitting on the edge of the table with a grimace. A brief moment of silence settled over the pair; their shared acknowledgement of just how severe their predicament really was made the air seem heavy in the small room of grey stone.

Moments later, before either of them could find the words to break the silence, the door opened. This time a large burlap sack was quickly placed inside. Diana and Cage had barely any time to react before the door slammed shut again. The two of them crept cautiously toward the sack.

Something inside it stirred. A groan and panicked clawing at the rough fabric.

“Hang on, I’ll get you out,” Diana swept forward and worked the knot that held the bag shut free.

The gathlain blinked as her large chromatic eyes adjusted to the light in the cell. “Thanks,” Sofia said tiredly. She stretched the cramps from her ivy wings and pulled her hair from its high bun atop her head. Thick dirty blonde curls fell down around her shoulders, and she rubbed the back of her head where she’d been struck.

“Are you alright?” Diana asked.

Sofia’s full lips pulled taut, and her nostrils flared. She crossed her arms and floated out of the bag that had held her. “I will be as soon as whoever is responsible has been punished for assaulting a member of the nobility.”

Diana and Nicolas Cage exchanged glances.

“Umm… Lady Sofia, do you know why you’re here?” Cage broached carefully.

The gathlain’s head turned slowly and with a dangerous glint in her eyes. “Uh, you again? What did I tell you about addressing me that way?” Her hand rose as if to summon some magic force into her palm. But nothing happened. Shocked, she looked down at her hand and squinted, but still nothing.

“The room seems to be warded against magic,” Diana provided, sliding down against the cold stone into a seated position.

Sofia turned back to scowl at the human man. “You were saying?”

“Well, L--  _Sofia_ ,” he corrected quickly.

“Better,” she muttered.

“You remember that troublesome party last night at the Dragon’s Tooth? The ones you set on fire?”

Sofia’s eyes narrowed and her upturned nose scrunched as she recalled the previous night. She was still sober, more or less, when those events occurred. “Yes? What of it?”

“Well…” he hesitated.

“Well, what? Spit it out,” Sofia commanded.

“Turns out they were related to the High Captain of the Praesaryn Guard or work directly under him,” Diana interjected.

Understanding flickered across Sofia’s face as she comprehended that this might be trouble that her family name couldn’t just make disappear. She began to do political calculations in her head, and though she had spent the better part of the last few years distancing herself from her family, she still knew what strings her name could pull. Were there any favours her family could leverage to fix this? “Well… that umm… hmmm…” she murmured as she quickly concluded that any options she might have had were well and thoroughly exhausted, or in other words, completely fucked.

“Yeah,” Diana agreed listlessly.

Sofia fluttered back over to the burlap sack, scooped it up, and carried it over to Diana’s side where she folded it up to create a makeshift pillow. “Wake me up when something interesting happens, alright? My head is killing me.”

Diana nodded to her and attempted to get some sleep as well. Depending on how troublesome her older brother was to capture, they might be in there awhile. Cenobia would probably be the easiest to apprehend. The fact that nobility like Sofia had been brought in for this would almost surely mean that the kind cleric who had been like a second older brother to her would be in just as much trouble as the rest of them. It infuriated her that he was even being arrested. It wasn’t right, and it wasn’t fair. He shouldn’t have to pay for the trouble that she and her brother had caused. And it wasn’t like they had started it, as much as she would have  _loved_  to. Being arrested almost felt worth it somehow. She had thoroughly enjoyed giving those assholes a good thrashing.

Meanwhile, Nicolas Cage got up and paced around the room before sitting on the table again for a bit before returning to pacing. This pattern alternated for the next couple hours before the door opened again. Cage shot up from his seat on the table, and Diana started awake.

A pale ginger elf and a slightly taller bronze elf with long curly hair were deposited in the cell before the door was slammed shut once more. Diana flew towards them.

“Diana!” Zintiel pulled her into a tight hug, relief plain in his voice. “Gods, I’m so glad you’re okay!”

“Me too,” she agreed before moving to Cenobia. She wiped fresh tears from his cheeks before embracing him as well. “I’m so sorry that you got involved in all this.” He simply nodded, still unable to find his voice. Diana led him over to where she’d been seated before and held him while tears silently streamed down his face.

Zintiel pulled out a set of picks and attempted to break them out.

Nicolas Cage got up from his seat and peered over Zintiel’s shoulder. “Oh, very nice. How did you get those past--?”

Cage was cut off by Zintiel’s sudden yelp of shock and pain. He fell backwards onto his backside looking first at his hands, fingers sporting some small but nasty burns. He turned his attention back up at the door to see his picks melting into slag in the lock. “At least that wasn’t my good set,” he grimaced.

“Well, that answers that question,” Cage chimed in.

The ginger elf nodded acknowledgement at Cage and Sofia. “How long have all of you been here?”

“I got picked up this morning during my training,” Diana answered.

“Mid-morning, feeding my bear. I actually almost got away from ‘em,” Cage responded next.

“Hey, Sparkles.” Sofia rolled over to face him and held up her sack pillow. “Got hit over the head and stuffed into this on my way to get a hangover remedy late morning.”

“Ouch,” Zintiel mouthed and turned back toward his sister. “I was about to start searching for you when I was surrounded. And Cenobia…” he paused and looked at his boyfriend sympathetically. “Cenobia was about ten minutes behind me, finishing up some harvesting from the garden. I was hungry so I left early.” He sighed and sat down on Cenobia’s other side.

“Is this everyone who was involved in the scuffle?” Nicolas Cage asked. He turned his back on the door and sat down on the closer side of the table to the group. Even seated, he towered over the rest of the group.

Diana nodded. “Believe so. How long you think it’ll be now before they decide what to do with us?”

Cage shrugged. “Who knows?”

Hours passed. Sofia slumbered away on the stone floor. Diana, Cage, and Zintiel took turns pacing around the room. Cenobia sat on the floor, shaking with his knees tucked into his chest, and after a little while, he did manage to stop crying.

And finally, the door opened. Cage pivoted mid-step toward the door. Startled by the sudden sound, Zintiel found himself hiding in the tall man’s shadow. Diana instinctively stood, moving into a protective position in front of Cenobia whose only movement was to face the door. Sofia’s eyes cracked open just enough to see who stood in the doorway.

A very tall dark-skinned human man in well-made but practical clothing entered holding a bundle of files in one arm. He shut the door behind him and stared at the group before dropping the large pile of dossiers on the table. The loud thud made all five of the prisoners jump.

“So, let’s get started, shall we?” the man’s tone was hard and clipped. “You all know why you are here. And unless I’m mistaken, you already know who I am.”

Diana stared in disbelief at the man standing before her, the High Captain of the Praesaryn Guard, Ser Michael Kempf. She could scarcely process that he had actually come down here to pass judgment upon them himself.

Ser Michael picked up the file on the top and opened it. His deep brown eyes flickered to Diana and then back to the paper. “Diana Marsyas. Daughter of Gaia Marsyas. Speculation would indicate that you are also the daughter of Athras Tlintaris, though there is no solid evidence to back this up. Unless you would like to confirm this rumour yourself?” He paused to look up at Diana again. His eyes darted around to find Athras’ son for comparison, but when he could not immediately place where exactly in the room the ginger elf was, his gaze returned to her.

Diana scowled at the mention of her father. “Don’t know, don’t care, don’t need him whoever he was. Never met him, and I’m gonna keep it that way.”

“Very well,” he arched an eyebrow and cleared his throat before continuing, “my subordinate says you have some skill with a blade, which I have seen the results of myself, given the state in which my men returned.” He scanned over more of the dossier in his hand, reading a few snippets here and there aloud. “Disturbance of the peace… association with certain suspect rebel groups… disturbance of the peace… civil misconduct… It appears that this is your first major offence.” He rubbed his temples in frustration and slammed the file down on the table adjacent to the other ones. “You are barely an adult!” he spoke through gritted teeth, his jaw clenched. “Your whole life ahead of you, and you pull a stunt like this? Good enough to impress one of  _my_ officers! Which is not a compliment taken lightly!” His voice became quiet, but his tone remained harsh. “You should know better. Haven’t you lost enough friends to foolishness like this? Do you want to lose  _more_?” His nostrils flared. “Even for a half-breed of no heritage, you could have made something of yourself.”

As he spoke, Diana stood her ground. Her hands balled into fists. She refused to be intimidated by this man. Powerful he may be, but he was still just a man.

The High Captain moved on to the next file in the stack. This one was about twice as thick as hers had been. “Nicolas Cage. Parentage unknown. Not native to Praesarys, but attained proper paperwork for citizenship at age twenty. Known mapmaker and geographer. Believed to have at least eighty-eight known aliases.”

“Damn!” Cage muttered under his breath, quite impressed with the knowledge they had on him.

High Captain Kempf continued as if uninterrupted, “Knowledgeable in the druidic arts. Current familiar is an adult brown bear. Again, this is the first substantial crime you have committed. Previous misdemeanours include trespassing in restricted areas… trespassing on private property… trespassing, trespassing, trespassing--” he frowned and looked at Cage. “You seem to have a knack for finding yourself places you aren’t supposed to be.”

Cage shrugged and smiled humourlessly. “Can’t very well make maps of places if I haven’t been there.”

Ser Michael blinked slowly, feeling his patience wearing thin, and dropped the file on top of Diana’s. Next, he picked up one that was bigger than the rest of them combined. He looked to Sofia who was leisurely reclining on the floor, propped up on her elbow.

“Sofia Briarwind. Firstborn of Birch and Bianca Briarwind. Heir-- actually, former heir to the Briarwind family,  _stripped_  of your title, though you still hold access to your holdings, lands, and status in the nobility.”

The gathlain’s expression seemed carved from stone as her file was read aloud.

And in response, the High Captain’s expression only grew more and more frustrated. “One of the brightest mages to graduate from the Grand Praesaryn Academy in your generation. Graduated with top marks and was offered a position as a junior researcher as well as a position as a commissioned officer in the Praesaryn Arcane Militia. Both of which you  _declined._  Charges include unwelcome drunken intrusion at government functions, drunken conduct unfit of a member of Praesaryn nobility, theft of government property, defacing of government property, destruction of government property… And all of these infractions? Charges  _withdrawn_. Due to your family’s power and influence.” He angrily thrust her dossier down atop the second pile.

Sofia didn’t even flinch.

“Well guess what? You have finally run out of second chances. You’ve traded everything of worth in your life. Your title, your family name, your noble rights, to get out of all your previous trouble. And even if you hadn’t, you can’t just make this one go away.” His nostrils flared as he exhaled, and he turned to pick up the next file. This one held only a single leaf of paper in it, and the High Captain’s expression softened ever so slightly. “Cenobia Halloran. One of twins, though the whereabouts of your sister are currently unknown. Parentage unknown. Also not native to Praesarys. Citizenship acquired at age seventeen with the aid of Shaenyvra Tlintaris. Apprenticed under Shaenyvra Tlintaris as a priest of Sarenrae and a healer.” He glanced up from the dossier at the Summer elf. “This seems to be your first ever run-in with the law. And for what it’s worth, I am sorry you got involved in this.” His demeanour hardened again. “But I cannot abide disrespect to my family and my station.”

He placed Cenobia’s file on top of Sofia’s and picked up the last one. Like Cenobia’s, it too held just the single leaf of paper, but Ser Michael’s expression was as stony as the walls of the cell in which he stood. “Zintiel Tlintaris. Only child of Shaenyvra and Athras Tlintaris. No  _known_ criminal history,” he said through gritted teeth.

Zintiel’s smug-sounding voice emerged from behind Nicolas Cage, “Oh, but High Captain Kempf, I thought a clean file was a _good_  thing.”

“Yours and your father’s files are only  _clean_  because any shred of evidence that might prove otherwise vanishes without a trace,” the High Captain retorted bitterly.

Zintiel finally poked his head out with a vulpine grin. “Then how would you know if there’s no proof?”

Ser Michael glare darkened into one that radiated with a desire to impart violence upon the mouthy ginger elf. Instead, he opted to lash out with his words in a manner more vicious than any blade. “You and your father are truly a credit to your worthless breed, Winter elf.”

Zintiel bristled and glared back at Ser Michael. He was a breath away from attempting to throw himself at the much larger man. But as he stepped from behind Nicolas Cage, the druid caught hold of his wrist.

After a brief moment of intense silence, Ser Michael continued, “Regardless of previous crimes, I have you all here now, complicit in the assault of my nephew and several high ranking officers of the Guard.”

“High Captain Kempf, sir, one of the members of your nephew’s party drew first blood. We were only defending ourselves,” Diana explained.

“My nephew, while he may very well be an idiot, he is my blood, noble blood of the highest rings of authority at that.” He held up a hand to stop her from interrupting. “It does not matter who started it. As High Captain of the Guard, I am the one who decides how it is finished. And I am prepared to offer you all a deal.”

“What kind of deal?” Cage and Zintiel asked nearly simultaneously.

“If you will let me finish, I will tell you,” he scowled. “Now as I was saying, you all handled yourself well against several of my high ranking officers, drunk though they were; therefore, what I have for you, in exchange for your freedom, is three tasks.” He paused, allowing for the inevitable deluge of questions he knew would be coming.

“What’s the catch?” Zintiel asked, fully stepping out from behind the druid now.

“And what are these tasks? Why are you assigning them to us and not your own people?” Cage followed up in a rapid-fire fashion.

Diana stepped forward with her arms crossed. “You said ‘in exchange for our freedom.’ You mean to say that you’ll just let us go when this is all done? Free and clear?”

For the first time since the High Captain entered the room, Sofia stirred from her reclined position on the floor. She fluttered forward, hovering in the air next to Diana. “And what if we decide we don’t want to do these tasks for you? What then?”

Ser Michael glared at the gathlain woman. “There is no catch. You do these tasks for me, and you’re free to go, records expunged as a show of goodwill and in the hopes that they will  _stay_ that clean. The tasks I will set for you are ones that involve a high amount of risk. In all honesty, I would much rather risk your lives than the lives of my own officers.” His voice became deadly quiet. “And lastly, if you choose to reject my more than generous deal, then you will spend the rest of your days in a cell much like this one and never again see the light of day. And if you decide you’d rather attempt to flee, then that prison cell will seem like your greatest fantasy in comparison to the horrors in store for you when we find you. And make no mistake, we  _will_  catch you,” his low voice rumbled ominously. “Now, what is your choice?”

Zintiel and Diana exchanged glances with a nod. “The three of us will accept your offer,” he spoke for the pair of them as well as Cenobia.

“Good. And you two?” Ser Michael directed at Cage and Sofia.

“I will as well,” answered the druid.

Sofia crossed her arms. “As will I,” each word dripping with venom.

“Excellent. You have made the wise decision. I will have you released within the hour. You should receive instructions for your first task by the end of this week.” He gathered up the files from the table as he spoke. He rapped on the door with the knuckles of his free hand, and the metal door swung open for him. “And do remember what I told you about what will happen should you attempt to flee.” He exited the room, closing the door behind him.

Nicolas Cage sat back down on the edge of the metal table and ran his fingers through his thinning brown hair. “Well, all things considered, that turned out much better than expected.”

“No kidding,” Zintiel agreed soberly. He took a seat on the ground by his boyfriend who was staring straight ahead vacantly. Zintiel wrapped his arms around the slightly taller elf and gently stroked his hair. He whispered into Cenobia’s ear, “Everything is going to be okay _, ussta che_.” After a few moments, he felt some of the stiffness in Cenobia’s body fade.

True to Ser Michael’s word, the door to the cell opened and remained so until the five of them had exited. The Guard outside it escorted them down to retrieve any items that may have been confiscated upon their arrival. Diana reclaimed a large dagger, Cage his pocket knife, and Zintiel got back a small arsenal of knives in varying size and shape and aesthetic as well as a handful of smoke pellets. Diana wondered if disarming her brother had had anything to do with the reason he and Cenobia had been put in the cell so much later than the rest of them.

The Guard then led them all outside to where a large carriage waited. Sofia’s eyes widened when she saw it. She dipped from where she was floating in the sky, eyes darting around, trying to find an escape.

The carriage door opened, and before Sofia could so much as turn to the side, her body was frozen mid-air, a faint glittering aura of some sort of paralysis spell emanating from her body. She tumbled down into the Guard’s arms.

“Thank you, Ser Felix. If you could place her inside, we will take her home.” A female gathlain bearing a striking resemblance to Sofia peeked out of the carriage. She was dressed in the finest clothing anyone in the group had ever seen and her hair and ivy wings bore adornments of gold and silver that made Zintiel’s fingers twitch.

“Of course, Lady Bianca!” The Guard answered dutifully.

“And thank you for releasing her to us. We have been looking for her for some time now. It will nice to finally have her home,” a male gathlain added with a smile, though a coldness in his eyes that made it seem a bit sinister. He was equally as well-dressed as the woman and had a most excellently coiffed moustache and goatee.

“Well, there is still the matter of Ser Michael’s--” Felix began.

The male gathlain scoffed and rolled his eyes, “I thought that was a joke.”

“No, Ser Birch, he is quite serious about it,” the human Guard replied timidly.

“Very well, very well. We’ll just have to see about that.” Birch waved his hand dismissively. “Our daughter if you please.”

Ser Felix carried the stiff, unmoving form of Sofia and placed her carefully inside the carriage. He bowed to Lady Bianca and Ser Birch Briarwind and shut the door to their carriage before turning back to the rest of the group. “Now, the rest of you are free to go, but know that you are being watched. Your first task will be given to you shortly, so prepare yourselves how you see fit.” He then retreated back into the Tower of the Guard.

The trek back to the small town of Shadewood on the outskirts of the Capital where the Dragon’s Tooth lie would take them at the very least a few hours on foot, and it would be well after dark by the time they got there.

“As much as I like a good walk, I’d rather not make it this one twice in one day. We got enough coin to spare to use one of the trolleys?” Diana asked her brother, her arm wrapped around Cenobia as Zintiel rummaged through his cloak.

“Yeah, I’ve got enough. Cage, can you meet the fare?” Zintiel asked the tall man.

“Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. I think so,” the druid replied, pulling out a handful of coins and squinted at it in the dying light.

“Good. I think the nearest station is a not far from here, and it should get us to the edge of Shadewood.” Zintiel drew up his hood around his face, not fancying the negative attention his clear Winter elf heritage usually garnered in the Capital as he led the group to the trolley station. His sister could pass for half-Spring elf, but he and his boyfriend were distinctively not, him with his cold-hued pale skin and large ears and Cenobia with his warm bronze skin and jewel-toned eyes the colour of a pale ruby. As a Summer elf, Cenobia wasn’t necessarily scorned, but he wasn’t exactly welcome either. He gave Nicolas Cage the money for his, Diana’s, and Cenobia’s tickets while the three of them waited out of sight.

Bells rang out every couple of minutes as the metal tubes with their eerie crystalline glow zipped in and out of the station. The radiant hum of magical energy that seemed to come from every direction. Zintiel felt the light pulsing of a headache forming in his temples. After a few minutes, they boarded their trolley and zipped back across the Praesaryn Capital. Diana gazed out the windows of the metal tube, but Zintiel stared down at the floor as the landscape flew by. Cenobia placed a hand on his back, and he felt warmth surge through him, easing the sickness in his stomach. Nicolas Cage absently stared out the window, not wanting to interrupt what seemed like a personal moment between them.

The bar had nearly emptied when they arrived back at the inn. Gaia’s face lit up with relief when she saw her children, and she hopped the bar to reach them all the quicker. “Thank the gods, you’re finally home safe! I’ve been so worried!” She hugged them and touched their faces as she inspected them for signs of mistreatment.

“Sorry, mum,” Zintiel and Diana replied in unison, but Cenobia remained silent. Nicolas Cage slipped in behind them, but Gaia caught him by the arm as he passed.

“Hey, good to see you’re okay too. I went ahead and fed your bear since you weren’t here. S’a good creature you’ve got there.”

The druid looked up at the woman in surprise. He hadn’t expected her to take care of Wick in his absence. “Oh. Um, thank you.”

“There’s still some dinner in the kitchen if you’re hungry.” Gaia peered over their heads a moment, searching for her other missing patron. “Wait a minute, where’s Sofia?”

“She was released into the custody of her family,” Cage answered. “Not sure when we’ll see her again.  _If_ we see her again.”

Gaia crossed her arms and frowned. “Just what the hell happened?”

Zintiel stared at his boyfriend, his large green eyes full of worry. “A whole lot of bullshit, but first, let’s get some food. And maybe a drink.” He guided Cenobia towards the kitchen and Diana and Cage followed.

“Alright, alright. I’ve still got customers and some cleaning to take care of.” Gaia went to check on the couple tables that were still occupied.

Once they’d made it back to the kitchen, it was like something in Cenobia shifted, like he could breathe again. His usual gentle smile returned to his face as he began to make plates for everyone.

Zintiel grabbed a strip of jerky from the pantry and a small bit of bread and kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll be back,  _ussta che_. Just need to go run some errands, okay?” He lingered there, holding his lover to him for a moment longer than usual and then exited through the kitchen door.

Diana and Cage sat down at the small table in the corner of the room where Cenobia had already set down their plates. He fixed a small one for himself but did not join them at the table. Instead, he stood and ate over the long counter. The three of them ate in silence before Diana went off to take a shower and Cage retired to his room. Cenobia remained in the kitchen of the inn, cleaning and preparing for the next day. Once Gaia was done for the night, he planned to bring down tea for them. He really needed to unwind after all the stress that day.

As Gaia was locking up the bar for the night, there was a knock at the door. Curiously, she pulled back the locks and opened it to find Sofia hovering there just above the ground.

“Sofia! You’ve returned!” exclaimed Gaia, moving out of the gathlain’s path so she could enter. Sofia floated woozily through the air, her eyes poorly focused. She was clearly already pretty drunk. “Your room should still be prepared, dear.”

“Nahh,” the gathlain slurred. “I’m jus’ gonna stay under the bar. I’ll leave ya coin if I get into anythin’.” She covered her mouth but couldn’t suppress the fit of hiccoughs. Her eyes lulled back in her head, and she tumbled from the air towards the floor.

Gaia caught her in her strong arms and carried her to the wooden crate with pillows and blankets that Sofia preferred to sleep in and tucked her in. Whatever had happened to them all had definitely left an impact on all of them. She finished closing up the bar for the night and retired to her quarters.

In the late hours of the evening, Zintiel crept through the woods to a secret passage that had long since gone unused. He followed the lightless tunnel until he found its exit, a loose tile in a large dark office. He waited and listened until he was satisfied that it was empty and then settled into the chair behind the desk. He leaned his head back and waited patiently for the return of its usual occupant, a man he hadn’t spoken to in eighteen years, Athras Tlintaris, his father.


	7. A Bitter Taste

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sofia makes her way back to the party

Sofia watched with hateful eyes as the Lord and Lady Briarwind carried her back to their estate. It was the only part of her that she could move. Even breathing came with mild discomfort. The cretin who had set her in the carriage had crumpled her wings, and they had begun to cramp. She wanted to scream but could not open her mouth.

“My dear, what are we going to do with you?” Birch chided. “You have really stepped in it this time. If that lout Felix is correct, then there really is no getting you out of this one.” He sighed with frustration, and with a little flourish of his hand, the spell that bound her movement lifted.

Sofia took a deep breath and stretched her wings and pushed the ache from her body. “Ugh! Fucking rude!” She reached for the door handle and felt it lock in her grasp.

“Darling, you can’t just get out of a moving carriage; you’ll hurt yourself,” Bianca scolded. “And do refrain from using foul commoner’s language, darling. We raised you to be better than that.”

Sofia tugged at the door again, uselessly, and sulked in her seat.

“Don’t you have anything to say for yourself? For your behaviour?” Birch asked angrily. Sofia’s defiant silence only made him raise his voice more. “Have you no shame? Have you forgotten who you are? Or do you just not care? Are you proud of this, this  _disgrace_  you have become?”

 Sofia’s head pounded as his words rang against the remnants of her hangover. She glared back at him. “If I’m such a disgrace, then why’d you even fuckin’ bother comin' to get me?” she spat with every ounce of vitriol she could muster.  _Why did they? Why would they even bother? Unless…_  She froze. “Wait. You’re going to try to lock me up again, aren’t you? You’re going to try to  _fix_  me again!” She pulled at the latch on the door again, more forcefully this time, panic rising in the pit of her stomach. She needed to get out.  

“Sofia, stop--” Biana started to reach out, but Sofia flinched away from her.

“No! You can’t make me into your perfect little doll!”

“Sofia, I will not allow this kind of disrespect to your mother and I.” Birch’s voice was quiet and held a magical force within it.

Sofia could feel the same paralysis from earlier creeping over her, but this time she was ready and she was mad as hell. With a fiery force of will, she shook off her father’s spell before it could coalesce around her, using his surprise to quickly shift her magical momentum from shielding herself into a spell of her own. She fluttered back half a step and aimed her palm. With a dull crack of sound and a small flash of light, she unleashed a blast that forced the door to the carriage off its hinges. She stared back at her parents a moment and, without hesitation, jumped out into the air current surrounding the moving vehicle.

An important thing to note about carriages of the high nobility of Praesarys is, instead of being pulled by your typical beasts of burden, they are enchanted to fly. Often times very high and very fast. Especially the Gathlain nobility, many of whom kept their homes high off the ground suspended by numerous spells as a symbol of both their status and the potency of their magic.

For a few seconds, she was battered about in the current of air, but she managed to stabilise her flight just in time to not bespatter herself onto the cobblestone streets. She took in her surroundings. They had almost succeeded in getting her back to their home, the home she had grown up in. She vanished herself and began to fly as fast as she possibly could away from the large mansion. The spell wouldn’t last long, but she hoped it would hold just long enough to get her far enough away that they wouldn’t be able to find her. It wasn't the first time she’d evaded her parents on their home turf, and they were each a force to be reckoned with in their own right. More than just fast, she needed to be careful.

The High Captain’s words echoed in her mind, and she wondered which was worse, his dangerous tasks, whatever torturous hell he had in mind if she tried to run, or being locked away by her parents. It hadn’t occurred to her before but these tasks made the High Captain a protective barrier between her and her parents. So long as she was working for him, they couldn’t touch her. Tasks it was. Plus, the idea of how much her “community service” would piss off the Lord and Lady Briarwind did give her great pleasure.

She flew into an alleyway as her spell began to dissipate. She slid down the cold marble wall and gazed up at the night sky. All the haze of the alcohol faded from her system, and she felt a strange clarity. And, in it, something buzzing. A strange humming sensation within her that she had felt ever since… that time. When her family had sent her away to be “fixed.”

In truth, she had no idea what it was they had done to her. She just remembered… flashes of that day. Strange, unfamiliar rooms, vaguely familiar faces… and  _pain_. A whole lot of pain. But ever since then, she felt  _different_. She couldn’t place how or why, which was infuriating in its own right, but something had changed within her, something she couldn’t see or touch. But something felt wrong, off, unsettled, and she couldn’t… she just couldn’t fathom how, or why… And the dreams that came after it… she would take the hangovers any day, just to never see those things again, to never feel like this again.  

She would be recognised in any of the bars in the Capital for her name and probably end up back in her prison. Or worse. She needed to get back to Shadewood. She checked the small coin purse on her hip. Plenty of gold to get her back. She used her magic to disguise herself long enough to purchase a trolley ticket. And from there, she rode the great metal tube for the short trip back to the edge of Shadewood, thanking the stars that it was mostly empty at that time of night. She and the few others riding with her kept to themselves, looking very much like they too did not wish to be seen.

The trek back to her usual place at the Dragon’s Tooth on the far edge of town wasn’t terribly long, but she was eager to get rid of that acrid taste her parents had left in her mouth. So she stopped at every bar along the way for a drink. The people in these bars were likely to recognise her, but not as much for her noble heritage as for the coin she spent at them.

By the time she’d made it back to the Dragon’s Tooth, her coin purse was significantly lighter. She saw the dark-skinned barkeep locking up through the window. Sofia drifted through the air with as much speed as she could muster and rammed her little fist against the door.

Gaia’s face lit up in surprise when she opened the door. “Sofia! You’ve returned!” She moved out of the gathlain’s way to let her in.

Sofia’s vision shifted as her eyes tried to focus on the large woman. She was so close, just a little further, and she’d be home.

“Your room should still be prepared, dear,” Gaia suggested helpfully.

“Nahh, jus’ gon’ stay under the bar. Leave ya coin if I get into anythin’,” Sofia slurred. She felt her stomach turn and covered her mouth. There was a tinge of relief as a fit of hiccoughs started instead. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she could feel the rush of air past her wings as the floor rose up to meet her. But then it didn’t.

Sofia smelled ale and sweat and fire as the Gaia’s strong arms gently wrapped around her. She was carried in a few of the tall woman’s long strides behind the bar to her bed where Gaia tucked her in. She heard the clink of a glass and two bottles next to her little crate. One was water and the other a very strong whisky. And next to those the tin echo of an empty pail.

“Thank you,” Sofia muttered before drifting into a blissfully dreamless sleep.


	8. Disappointment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diana catches up with her mother at the end of the day

Diana stood outside the door to her mother’s room, hand poised to knock, hesitating. The kind of trouble she and her brother had brought on their own heads was affecting more than just them, and, for the first time in a while, she was scared. And she  _hated_ it.

The door opened, startling both Diana and Gaia who stood on the other side of it.

“Mom!”

“Diana?”

“I, umm, what are you doing?”

Gaia laughed. “ _I_ was going to the toilet. What are  _you_  doing?”

“I was-- I-- I’ll just,” Diana stammered awkwardly.

“Uh huh. Well, I’ll be right back, and then you can tell me all about it, okay?”

“Okay,” Diana conceded and went into her mother’s room to wait. She sat down on the bed and stared at the door impatiently. She pulled off her boots and lay down. She squirmed as she tried to get comfortable. A little glass dragon figurine on her mother’s bedside table caught her eye. She delicately picked it up and turned it in her fingers in the lamplight. She found herself in awe of its beauty, captivated by the soft glow that seemed to be trapped inside the figure like a tiny fire burning. The sound of the door closing pulled Diana from the dreamy state she hadn’t even realised she’d slipped into, and she hurriedly placed the little dragon back on its table.

“It was a gift. From your father.” Gaia answered quietly.

Diana scowled reflexively. “Why do you keep it then? He-- Wait a minute… why haven’t I seen it before?”

“He left it for my birthday. And I keep it because I love him. Always will. Even if I never see him again.” Gaia’s jaw set as she pushed back at the tears that threatened. The time between always felt too long. Time wasn’t the same for Athras as it was for her. Years passed between their meetings and, for an elf, it must seem like the blink of an eye, but for her, it felt like an eternity. She sat down on the bed next to her daughter. “You didn’t come here to talk about your father. So what did you come to talk to me about?”

Diana curled in on herself and pouted. “It  _sucks_.”

Gaia smiled and rubbed her daughter’s back. “Many things do. But what in particular sucks right now?”

With alarming speed, Diana sat up. She crossed her legs and slumped over them. “ _Everything_ ,” she complained. “Ugh.” She flopped back on her mother’s bed with legs still crossed.

“Diana… I’ll find out from Zin or Cenobia if you don’t tell me,” Gaia lay down on an elbow next to her daughter.

Diana sighed and looked over at her. “Well, aside from missing my interview with the Bladesongs, which I probably won’t even be able to reschedule at this point, because I don’t know how long all this bullshit is going to take…  _UGH_ ,” she groaned again. “They took us to the Tower of the Guard and--”

Gaia sat up just as abruptly as her daughter had moments prior. “The Tower?!”

“Yeah, but I mean, they let us go though. But that’s not even the worst of it. So you know those brats we threw out last night? Well, one of them was the High Captain’s nephew. And their guards were actual  _Guards,_  y’know? So uh, yeah… we messed up pretty bad.”

Gaia blinked in disbelief, her mouth opening and closing a few times, but all she could say was, “Well… shit.”

“So now we’re indebted to the High Captain to do three tasks for him.” She sighed again. “It’s not fucking fair. I had shit I wanted to do, places I wanted to go… And I know what I wanted to do wasn’t the safest thing in the world, but at least I’d be seeing the world and what I’d be doing would be my choice! Now, who knows what we’ll be doing or if we’ll even survive long enough to make it to the promised clean slates.”

“Wait, he promised you clean slates if you did these things for him?” Gaia asked sceptically.

“Yep. And sweet Shelyn, do some of them need it! Mom, you should have  _seen_  Sofia’s file! It was  _huge_! It was as big as some of the tomes Cenobia was teaching me out of!”

Gaia couldn’t help but laugh. “Sofia has a past. As most of us do.” She lay back down on her side by Diana.

“Not Zintiel and Cenobia!” Diana argued, gesturing irritably. “They had thinner files than I did!”

 

"Just because your brother never got caught doesn't mean he doesn't have a past," Gaia chuckled, absently stroking her daughter's long ginger hair. It was a bit thicker than Athras', but it was the same shade as his and one of the many traits that her daughter had inherited from him. "And Cenobia, well, that boy is as clean as they come. It's sad to see him wrapped up in all this mess."

Diana sat there for a moment in the quiet comfort of her mother’s presence. She untangled her legs and rolled over to face her. “Hey, mom, if everyone has a past, then what about yours? Like what your relationship was like with…” she paused and stared past her mother, to the little dragon on the table. She’d heard her father’s name before, but she’d never spoken it aloud. She wasn’t sure she wanted to. She pressed her lips together and continued, “With that man… or how you got the money for this bar… or how you got the dragon tooth you use for the sign and our bar’s name?”

Gaia sat up and offered a hand to her daughter. She smiled, “Those are tales for another day. It’s getting late, and you should get some rest.”

Diana scowled playfully and took her mother’s hand. “Ugh, fine. One of these days you’re going to have to tell me though.”

“One of these days, I will,” Gaia agreed. “Now off to bed with you.”

Diana returned to her room and settled into bed. She stared at the woodgrains of the ceiling above her and wondered about all the adventures her mother must have had before having her and sulked, knowing that her own such adventures would have to wait.


	9. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zintiel visits his father for the first time in eighteen years

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zintiel and Athras' native tongue is Drow since Winter elves (aka dusk elves) are distantly related to the drow. It felt important to include that their conversations would flow between Common and Drow, especially given the stress of the situation.

Zintiel sat behind the desk in his father’s place, a place that was once meant to be his, had he not turned his back on this life, the life of an Ace, an agent of the King of Thieves. His mind drifted back to that night. The anger and rage, the hurt and loss that had driven him away from the Guild, away from his father. Even with that fury that filled his heart back then, his father had made him promise him something the day Diana had been born, a promise that he had accepted without a second thought. He sighed. He had failed. He was supposed to protect her, to protect all of them. And it was his fault that his sister was in trouble now.

Without so much as a sound, the pale elf felt a sharp blade press against his throat. He didn’t dare move. The sharp edge of the knife held him in place as his hood was yanked back, and with it, some of his short ginger hair. He let out a sharp gasp of pain.

“Zintiel?”

The dagger came away from the young elf’s neck as he met large eyes that looked so much like his own.

“ _Vel'bol ph'dos xundus ghil?_ ” his father asked, completely taken aback. However, his surprise was quickly replaced with frustration. “Calistria,  _xsa ol! Usstan gumash inbal elggen dos! Vel'bol zhahen dos talintha?_ ” <What are you doing here? / Calistria dammit! I could have killed you! What were you thinking?>

The younger elf wheezed slightly under his father’s dagger, and Athras released him. Zintiel’s face fell into his hands, and he shook, unable to contain himself any longer. “Dad, I…  _Usstan_ \--” his voice broke.

Athras knelt by his son’s side. He reached out to comfort him but stopped himself, unsure if it would be welcome. “ _Gu'e, gu’e… vel'bol uri'shoelt?_ ” he asked softly. <Hey, hey, what happened?>

Zintiel wrapped his arms around himself and stared up at the ceiling. “ _Usstan hojjau. Usstan bynss ser l'ussta iglata, lu'nin tu'Diana lu'Cenobia zah'har l'umbrenen_.”  <I failed. I couldn’t keep my promise, and now both Diana and Cenobia suffer the consequences.>

“ _Lotha sadei…_ ” Athras began sympathetically. <Little fox>

It had been quite some time since Zintiel had heard his familial pet name. He stood abruptly, moving back toward the secret entrance he’d used. “I shouldn’t have-- I should be going.”

“Zintiel, wait.”

Halfway across the room, the younger elf stopped.

“From what I heard, they attacked you first.”

Zintiel turned back to face his father. “How…?”

Athras smirked. “I have my ways.” He sat down at his desk and gestured for his son to join him in one of the chairs across the desk from his. “Now, you came here for a reason. What was it?”

Shakily, Zintiel made his way back across the room and sat down. “We’re in trouble.”

The older elf nodded. “What happened?”

“We were… arrested,” mumbled Zintiel.

“Mhmm…?”

“Because… we sort of…” the young elf danced around her words, barely wanting to admit them to himself, and much less aloud to his estranged father. “We assaulted members of the Praesaryn Guard. And some nobles,” his voice dropped to barely a whisper, “one of which was the High Captain’s nephew.”

Athras blinked. Surely he had misheard his son. “You what?”

“We beat the shit out of Ser Michael’s nephew and his friends and his Guards. Guard Guards, not just paid muscle,” Zintiel blurted rapidly, perhaps hoping that if he just spewed his words all at once that they might come out better.

Athras lowered his head, involuntarily rubbing his temples. “Please tell me I misheard you.” He looked up to see his son shaking his head slowly, and he attempted to keep his emotions in check. “Of all the… Calistria, save us. Do you know who exactly you’re dealing with?  _Shit._ ”

“I know,” Zintiel replied hollowly.

“I don’t mean to frighten you, but that man is not just the head of the Guard but also the leader of the entire kingdom’s military.” Athras’ brow furrowed as thoughts flew across his face. “Wait a minute. If you were in trouble with that man, then how are you here now? He wouldn’t have just let you off with a warning…”

“He didn’t.” Zintiel sighed, trying to work himself up to the rest of it.

Athras simply crossed his arms and waited, taking in his son’s appearance. He looked tired but otherwise healthy. Given the length of time his son had been out of the Guild, it really shouldn’t have surprised him so much that his approach had gone undetected. His senses and skills weren’t as honed as they once were. A slight sadness touched his heart at the thought, but such was how things happened. He and Zintiel had both made their choices, and they couldn’t go back and change them. Yet here his son was now, seeking him out, causing a glimmer of hope to flicker in his chest. Things might not ever be what they once were, but maybe they could have something again.

“In exchange for our lives, Ser Michael will be giving us three tasks. When we complete them, we’ll be free and clear. No prison, no debt, just clean slates. If we had not agreed to his terms, it would have been imprisonment for the rest of our lives. And if we tried to run, apparently our fate would be worse than death.”

“I see…”

Zintiel wrapped his arms around himself and continued miserably, “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t keep my promise to you.”

“Do you remember what you said to me the day Diana was born,  _lotha sadei_?”

Zintiel frowned, trying to understand what his father was getting at.

“You told me that I didn't need to ask you to protect her. Therefore, you have broken no promises.”

“But--”

“You are both adults now. She made just as much of a choice to join in that fray as everyone else who was involved.”

“Except Cenobia,” Zintiel interrupted. “ _Uk zhahus er'griff o'gothin nindyn estrua_.”  <He was only healing those idiots.>

Athras nodded sombrely. “I know.”

“Dad, he's not-- he's--” Zintiel stammered. “He's not like us.”

 _“Usstan zhaun, lotha sadei,”_  Athras reiterated in their native tongue. “And he is going to need your strength through this.”

The younger elf nodded and slowly rose from his chair. “I should go. I need to get back to him.”

“Zintiel.” Athras hesitated again. It had been so long since he'd spoken to his son.

“Yeah?”

“I know these weren't ideal circumstances, but… I was glad to see you again, after all this time.”

Zintiel pulled his thin lips into an attempt at a smile and nodded before vanishing back through the passage under the loose tile.


	10. Anxiety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Athras and Gaia processing the ordeals their children are going to have to face

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't translate the Draconic phrases like I did with the Drow in last chapter, mostly because they're just terms of affection and I love you's and stuff like that that is in character but not necessarily relevant to understanding the plot.

Athras stared at the floor where his son had vanished. He chewed lightly at the insides of his cheeks and began to pace as thoughts raced through his head. He had to do something. He couldn’t just let his children die at the hands of one of those responsible for the death of their mother. He twisted the simple golden band around his ring finger, blindly searching the smooth metal for its hidden mechanism. There was a brief click. He closed his eyes and visualised Gaia’s wardrobe in her bedroom, and when he opened them again, there he was. He peered out through the crack in the door and saw her bidding their daughter goodnight.

“ _Sia darastrix_ ,” he greeted her quietly once the door had closed again.

Gaia jumped in surprise. “ _Sia itov!_ ” she whispered, “What are you doing here?” She quickly locked her door and rushed to the wardrobe. She pulled him up into her arms and held him to her. The way he embraced her in response felt like he would never let her go, that rush of completeness and elation. After several long moments, Gaia gently released the petite elf to the floor.

Athras pulled down his hood with a sigh. “I had a visitor waiting for me in my office tonight.”

“A visitor?” Gaia’s body tensed, and she reached out for his hand and led him over to sit down on the edge of her bed.

“Yes. And I might have killed him if I hadn’t--” He grimaced.

“Wait a minute, who--?” Comprehension dawned on Gaia’s face. She could count on one hand the number of people who could have done what Athras was suggesting, but there was only one that he would have come to see her about. “Unless I’m mistaken, it’s been--”

“Eighteen years,” he finished her sentence. “Eighteen years since he’s come to me.” He ran his free hand through his long ginger hair.

“Then I take it you’ve heard?” Gaia asked solemnly.

He nodded. “Calistria, what have our children gotten themselves into? All the shit we’ve done to keep them safe, all the things we’ve kept them out of and then this?” he shook his head. “Fucking hell. I can’t believe it.”

Gaia gently squeezed his hand. “Babe, it’s gonna be okay. They’re going to be okay.”

“How? That bastard wouldn’t have sent them on trips to pick daisies from a hilltop! Sounds like he wants them to take on missions that are little better than death sentences! And even if they do survive these tasks? Even if they do, odds are he’ll have them killed once he’s got what he wants!” He quickly clamped his next mouth shut over his next thought, suddenly realising how loud he’d gotten. He froze, body tensed, listening.

Bare footsteps flew down the hallway and stopped outside the door. The handle rattled. “Mom? You okay?”

Athras silently rolled off the bed and vanished under it.

“I’m fine, hon!” Gaia called through the door. “Hang on a sec!” She rushed over and unlocked the door. It swung open in her grasp. “Diana, really! What’s going on?”

Diana barged in and began searching the room. “I heard a loud voice, one I didn’t recognise.” She dropped down and peered under the bed.

Gaia’s heart raced. “Diana, there’s no one in here but me.”

The young woman exhaled forcefully. “It would appear so. I’m just… I’m sorry for being so paranoid. Just with everything that’s happened, I’m so worried about you. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.” She sat down on her mother’s bed and crossed her arms.

Gaia chuckled, “I can take care of myself, y’know.”

“Mom, they… they made it clear that if we didn’t go along with them that you, and everything you’ve worked for, everything  _we’ve_  worked for…” Diana trailed off. She didn’t want to think about it.

“I know, sweetie. But I’m fine! And no one’s here, okay? Go on back to bed and get some sleep, okay? We don’t know when they’ll give you your orders, so you need to be well-rested.”

Diana’s lips parted as if considering a snarky remark but closed again.

“Come on. Back to bed,” Gaia’s voice was firm but held a gentle patience in it. She pulled her daughter up into a hug and sent her back down the hall to her own room, relocking the door behind her. When she turned back around, Athras was there sitting on the bed as if he’d never left it.

“That was close,” he whispered.

“I just about had a heart attack when she looked under the bed,” Gaia replied with a nod.

“Yeah, me too.” Athras chuckled, extending a hand up to her. “But I would be a poor King of Thieves if I couldn’t hide in plain sight.” A weary expression crossed his face. “And I have had far more practice hiding from our daughter than I would prefer.”

Gaia took Athras’ hand and sat back down on the bed next to him. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close, and for a moment, they just sat there in the silence. She finally broke it. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too. The snippets I get from Cenobia are never enough, and the time between always too long.”

"I wish you could stay."

“As do I, my love.” Athras leaned up, but even seated, he was still much too short to kiss her so Gaia leaned down to meet him. “Perhaps if I am lucky, I will see you again soon.” He gazed into her dark brown eyes dreamily. He caught the faintest of creeping footsteps down the hall and he snapped back to attention. “You are awfully popular tonight,  _sia danthe ir_.”

Gaia smiled. She hadn’t heard anything, but she trusted Athras’ ears.  _“Si itov wux_. Be careful. And don’t keep me waiting so long 'til next time, alright?” As she kissed him on the forehead, there was a knock at her door.

“Mum?” Zintiel called quietly from the other side.

When she turned back from the door, Athras had vanished once more, but this time there was no residual sensation of his presence. He was gone from her room, disappeared to gods know where.


	11. Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zintiel and Cenobia seek comfort in different ways

“Coming,” Gaia replied, unlocking the door for her son.

“Hey, can we talk?” the short ginger elf asked timidly from the doorway.

“Of course, hon. Always.” Gaia closed the door behind him, and the two of them sat down at the little table in the corner of her room.

They sat there in awkward silence for several long minutes, Gaia waiting for Zintiel to speak and Zintiel trying to find the words.

She attempted to prod the conversation forward, “If this is about what happened with the High Captain, your sister already told me.”

“It’s not.” He sucked in a breath and anxiously bit at the insides of his cheeks, a habit that he had picked up from his father. “Well, not really. I… I went to see Athras tonight.”

Gaia sat very still, not wanting to give away her lack of surprise. “It’s been quite some time since you’ve seen him.”

“Since Diana was born,” he confirmed.

“How did that go?”

He blew out a breath and shrugged.

“Zin,” she nudged again. “Talk to me.”

“It was… fine? I mean, I’m not angry anymore, haven’t been for awhile. But, it was just… weird, seeing him again after all this time,” he admitted. “Things are still… complicated? I dunno, but this mess isn’t making them any easier.”

“I get that.”

“How long’s it been since you’ve seen him?”

“Couple years at least,” she lied.

“I’m so sorry, mum.”

“Don’t be. For better or worse, we chose these lives. We both knew that whatever relationship we had going forward, it would be complicated. He shows up when he can, when it’s safe. It never feels like enough, but it is every bit of worth it. I love him, so very much.” She couldn’t help but smile thinking about Athras. “Are you going to see him again?” She felt a small pang of envy at the thought of Zintiel and Cenobia being able to visit him at their leisure.

Zintiel ran his fingers through his hair and shifted in his chair. “I don’t know… I don’t know if it’s a good idea. I mean, he was so shocked to see me, he kind of… nearly took my head off.” Zintiel's pale cheeks flushed as he tilted his head to show Gaia line of dried blood his father’s dagger had left.

Gaia’s hand flew to her mouth with a gasp. So that’s what he’d meant. “Platinum scales! Let me get a look at that!” She leapt up and inspected the shallow wound.

Zintiel felt a slight warmth as one of her large brown hands passed over the cut, healing it. It felt so familiar but different from what his mother’s or Cenobia’s healing touch felt like. It was a different kind of heat. He rubbed at the skin of his neck. “Thanks, mum.” Emotion washed over him, reminded of the times his mother Shae had healed him. Without thinking, the words left his mouth, “Did she-- did mum teach you how to do that?”

Gaia was taken aback by the question. It had been so long since they had talked about her, but those wounds still felt fresh. Perhaps they always would. She kissed his forehead and ruffled his hair before sitting back down. “I picked up many things from both Athras and Shae in our time together, but that is a power bestowed upon me by my own deity long before I’d even met them.”

Zintiel opened his mouth to inquire further, but just as he did, there was a soft knock at the door. He peered over at it and called out, “It’s open!”

The door did not open, however. And there was another knock, a bit more insistent. Gaia rose from her seat and pulled the door open for Cenobia who stood there holding a large tray with a teapot and four cups.

Gaia smiled and took the tray from him. “Come on in, son.” She poured tea for the three of them.

“Thanks, mum.” He wearily took a seat at the table next to Zintiel, taking his boyfriend’s hand. Here in Gaia’s room, with Zintiel beside him and a fresh cup of tea before him, he felt like he could finally breathe again.

“Four cups,  _d’anthe uss_?” Zintiel inquired.

Cenobia nodded tiredly. “In case Diana joins us.”

Gaia chuckled and muttered, “She better not. She’s been in here twice already; she needs to get some sleep!” She took a sip of tea, looked at her boys, and added pointedly, “As do the two of you.”

Cenobia nodded again, a faint smile on his full lips as he stared into the depths of the liquid in his cup. “Yes, though I doubt I’ll get much sleep tonight.” He laughed, but there was a lifelessness to it. “I still can hardly believe any of this is happening.”

“Everything’s going to be okay,  _ussta che_ ,” Zintiel tried to reassure him, even if he had trouble believing the words himself. He held the same anxieties, but the least he could do was comfort his love.

Gaia offered her hand to Cenobia and locked eyes with him. “Zintiel is right. Everything is going to be just fine. Yes, what you’re going to be doing is dangerous. And I know it’s unfamiliar to you, hon, but you’re not alone. You’ve got Zintiel, and you’ve got Diana, and so long as y’all stick together and protect each other, you’re going to be okay.” She squeezed his hand lightly.

Cenobia breathed. He closed his eyes. He needed guidance. He needed to pray. “Thank you. Both of you.” He returned their comfort by lightly squeezing their hands before releasing them and taking up his cup of tea again. “I will be alright. I just… this is…” he shook his head and tried to find the right words. “This is… something I never thought I would ever face in my life.”

“This is the sort of thing I hoped none of you would have to face,” Gaia sighed. Her jaw clenched and a fire stirred in her eyes. “If I could have taken this from you, I would have.”

“Mum…” Zintiel and Cenobia said simultaneously. They smiled sadly at each other and then turned back to her.

“We know you can handle yourself, but shit like this is for the young,” Zintiel smirked. Perhaps it was the soothing effects of the tea talking, but he was starting to feel a little bit of the bravery he’d been faking.

“I’m young enough,” Gaia grumbled with a scowl. “And stronger than the lot of you combined.”

“Well, maybe we won’t even need to fight anything. Maybe we’ll just sneak in, steal something, sneak out, and be done with it,” Zintiel replied hopefully.

“We can only hope,” added Cenobia.

Gaia stretched and yawned. “Apologies, boys, it’s been quite a long day. I think I’m going to have to call it a night.”

“You kicking us out, mum?” joked Zintiel.

“Yep, you both need your rest too. Now go on, get.” She got up and pulled the two into a tight hug. “I love you two. Now don’t worry and take care of each other. Everything’s gonna be alright.”

“Do we need to grab any extra help for you since we don’t know what our schedules are going to look like for the foreseeable future?” Cenobia asked.

“Not a bad idea, but don’t feel bad if you can’t find anyone. I’m sure I can manage.”

“Alright. But if you need anything, just say the word and we’ll figure something out, okay, mum?” added Zintiel.

“Hey, love, I’m going to run these back to the kitchen and do a little last minute prep for tomorrow. I’ll meet you at home after, alright?” Cenobia assembled the cups and kettle back on their tray and carried them back upstairs to the kitchen. At this point, Zintiel was too tired to argue this with him and went straight back home.

As Cenobia washed the dishes in the light of the dying flames in the small kitchen, he finally allowed himself to process everything that had happened that day. He was now a criminal. For healing people. He briefly wished his sister was here with him as well, longing for the comfort that only his twin could provide. But it also occurred to him that Celosia would have likely just blasted those nobles to ash with her lightning without a second thought, and then they would have been in even more trouble.

It seemed so absurd. He didn’t understand. And for the first time in what seemed like forever, he felt his temper flare up inside him. The fading embers burst to life behind him, startling him, causing him to fling the cup he had been washing across the room.

He went over to the broken mug and mended it with his magic. He sighed and stared at the flames. He wondered if Shae had ever found herself in a predicament such as this, though such a thought seemed utterly ridiculous the more he pondered it. If his mentor had gotten into such troubles, it’s-- he stopped. Maybe she had. But there was no way of asking her now. She’d been gone nearly twenty years now.

He put up the clean dishes and knelt before the hearth, clasping his holy symbol of Sarenrae in his fingers. 

_My goddess, hear my prayers, give me guidance and strengthen my heart for these trials ahead of me. I know not what will be expected of me, but Gaia is right. If we still protect each other, I must believe that things will work out. I will not lose faith in us or in you. Shae once told me that it is easy to have faith when times are good, but when our faith is tested, that is when we know who we really are. I will face this test. I just hope that I can be as brave and good as she was. I hope that I can make both you and her proud._

Cenobia felt a surge of warmth flow through him. And in that moment, he felt… Hope. Strength. Comfort. His goddess had heard his prayer and was with him. He could do this, and he would.


	12. Resolve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nicolas Cage considers running before the adventure even begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one starts at the beginning of the Stone Cell, but the majority of it takes place after Comfort

Nicolas Cage silently finished up his dinner across from Diana, and before he could move, Cenobia had already gathered up his plate and taken it to the sink. "Oh, um, thanks. I could've..."

The corners Diana's lips pulled into a fraction of a smile. "He does that."

"I should be going," the druid replied awkwardly and returned to his room upstairs. The words replayed in his head, everything that had happened since that morning. If he left now, he would be able to make it a good distance away, far enough that they might stop pursuing him. He could move to Forgebent or the Everwilds, he could take a new name, surely they wouldn't continue chasing him if he left Praesarys.

He threw his clothes in their bag and carefully curled up his maps into their leather tubes. He felt a pang of regret as he furled up the parchments. He was nearing the end of his middle years. He would never be able to return to Praesarys in his lifetime, if he went through with this. So many empty spaces on his maps, places that he hadn't explored, places that he would never get to, and all the treasures he sought that he would never find. He tried to push those feelings away and fill himself with the necessary resolve. He concentrated on his escape routes and contingency plans, all the what if's and everything that could possibly go wrong.

Quietly as he could, he snuck back down through the kitchen to use the back door out of the Dragon's Tooth. From there, he could slink into the stables and grab Wick, and by first light, he'd be long gone.

"Nicolas Cage," a gentle voice spoke from the pantry. Cenobia stood there holding various jars of dried herbs.

"Oh, Cenobia, I, um, didn't see you there," Cage attempted to inconspicuously shift his luggage behind his back. The elf smiled kindly at him and gestured for him to sit down at the table again. The druid sighed and acquiesced to the request.

Cenobia began to pull several herbs from the jars and brewed cups of tea for the druid and himself. He brought the steaming cups over to the table and sat across from the tall man.

"Thank you," Cage said and blew on the hot liquid. "I hadn't realised you were still here. I didn't mean to--"

Cenobia gazed into the dying flames in the hearth. "There is still much to be done."

The fire sparked and grew brighter, and for a brief moment, Cage could have sworn he saw a strange flicker of light in Cenobia's red-violet eyes before he turned his gaze back to Cage. There was an intensity in them that seemed to look into his very being and see through him but also a kindness that lingered there that did not judge him for what had been seen. Cage blushed and instinctively covered his face.

"Leaving without saying goodbye?" Cenobia's words were without malice and seemed to be more a statement of fact rather than a question.

"Huh? What?" Cage's eyes darted shiftily about.

"I know that look. I have seen it before. It is the look of someone who is about to run."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Cage lied.

Cenobia sipped his tea, his expression never changing from the gentle smile. "My boyfriend and my twin sister are much better liars than you. I will not stop you but know this, if you run, you condemn us all. And even more, you condemn yourself to a lifetime of running."

"I am not--" Cage's voice rose as he leaned over the table toward Cenobia, but he quickly dropped it to an intense whisper. "I am not made for this, this danger that we are in! I am not a warrior or a soldier! I am an explorer! A map-maker! I can't do this!"

  "Nicolas Cage," Cenobia repeated the man's name, his voice as calm and level as before. "Diana is a  _teenager_ , barely an adult. She has left Shadewood only a handful of times, and the most combat she's seen is throwing rowdy customers out of the bar. Zintiel has spent the last eighteen years trying to build himself a life  _away_ from violence. Sofia is a talented wizard of the nobility who has spent some years, I don't even know how many, in a drunken haze because she is running from something. If she sobered up, she might be the most well-equipped of us all to deal with whatever we're up against. And me? I am just a healer, dedicated to a goddess whose temple has remained empty since my mentor's death." For the first time in their conversation, Cenobia's smile faded. "None of us are prepared for this."  

Cage blew out a breath and sat back down in his chair.

The two of them sat in silence for several long moments and drank their tea.

"We stand a better chance living through this if we work together," Cenobia said finally.

"Do you truly believe that?" the druid asked.

Cenobia nodded. "It was by the guidance of my goddess that I was here to speak to you. And by her guidance that I believe we stand a chance to live through this. By Sarenrae's grace, if it is in my power, I will keep you alive, Nicolas Cage. This I promise you."

The druid was rather taken aback by the shift he had seen in the distraught young man from earlier in the prison to the determined elf who stood before him right now. Cenobia put a hand over Cage's, and a soft burst of light and warmth washed over him. Cage was filled with hope and courage. He suddenly and very profoundly felt that whatever these tasks were, maybe they weren't so impossible after all.

An awkward half-smile filled the lines on his face. "Thank you for the tea. And for the talk. I think, perhaps I needed that." The druid pulled his bags back over his shoulder and returned upstairs to his room. " Have a good night."

Cenobia simply smiled and returned to his to-do list in the kitchen, alone once again.


	13. The First Task

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group sets off for their first adventure together.

A Guard delivered a letter a few days later to the Dragon's Tooth mid-morning. The letter, addressed to the five of them, instructed them to leave immediately to find an ancient research lab at the location marked on the attached map. Inside the lab, they would find a compendium of Ser Atan Kessaelon's planar theories that they would need to bring back to to the High Captain. Included with the map was an etching of an elaborate family crest that would be on the cover of the book they were looking for.

Nicolas Cage scoffed as he held up the map. "Pfeh, look at this rubbish! There's not even anything in that area! It's just an empty field!"

His companions looked at him sceptically.

"Here, let me show you." He led them up to his room and cleared off some space on his desk to unfurl a map of that same area that he had completed not even a week prior. He laid the two maps out, side by side. "See? There's nothing there."

"Regardless, we must at least  _attempt_ what has been requested of us," Cenobia spoke up shakily. "If there is indeed nothing there, then we can simply return to the High Captain and inform him that the map was marked incorrectly."

Cage crossed his arms stubbornly.

"He's right. Besides, it would be worth the trip just to prove those assholes wrong," Sofia added smugly.

"I suppose you're right," Cage sighed. "Very well, are we all set to go?"

"Almost! Go ahead downstairs. I'll meet y'all out front, just need to grab a few things from my room!" Diana bolted out of Cage's room and ran down the stairs to her room. She grabbed a small satchel with a few potions she'd saved up for with the intent of heading out on her own adventures, but she'd rather have them now in case she needed them.

She also picked up the very nice bastard sword that leaned up against the wall in its sheath. Her hands shook slightly as she reached for it.  _It's a bloody sword, nothing more. It's not like he forged it himself, just bought it and sent it._ She exhaled and gripped the hilt, soft leather wrapped over metal that seemed to fit her hand perfectly. It wasn't overly ornate, but it was of quality materials and design. It had been the only gift from her father that she'd accepted, albeit stubbornly. It had been left the day of her birth, the day he'd abandoned her and her mother. She scowled at the thought and swapped out her training blade for the proper sword after wiping off the fine layer of dust that had collected on it. It was a good sword, and if she was going to survive whatever shit was in store for her, she would need it.

She hurried back upstairs and to the front of the inn to regroup with the rest of the party. Along with her brother, Cenobia, Sofia, and Nicolas Cage, there was a rather large brown bear. She'd seen the creature in the stables, but it hadn't really clicked in her mind that the druid had planned to actually bring the bear with them until that moment. She eyed the bear tentatively as she shut the door to her mother's bar behind her.

"Ah, we're ready to take off then! Perfect!" Cage said eagerly, completely oblivious to Diana's hesitation. He pulled out his map of the area again and indicated the route they would be taking to arrive at the location marked on the map they'd been given before leading the group off in that direction.

It was only a short distance to the east but would still take them about half a day on foot. Sofia settled onto Wick's back to ride most of the way there. Wick just grunted indifferently and continued walking as the gathlain woman settled in on his back. He happily wiggled and snorted when she started scratching him behind the ear.

"Looks like Wick's taken a liking to ya," Cage commented.

"He is well-trained. And surprisingly well-cared for," the gathlain replied snootily.

The druid patted his bear on the head as he walked beside him. "What can I say, he takes care of me and I take of him."

Following behind them on the path were the ginger siblings and Cenobia. Cenobia was silently clinging to Zintiel's arm and staring off into the distance. As much as he'd accepted their fate, he was no less nervous about whatever unknown they were walking themselves into.

Zintiel looked down at his sister's side and saw what hung at her hip. It had been years since he'd seen it that he'd almost forgotten what it looked like. He'd been there the day their dad had given it to her. "So you're finally using that sword he gave you?" he prodded cautiously.

"Shut. Up. I  _don't_ want to talk about it," answered Diana.

"Well, you might need it," he muttered but didn't push his luck further.

The group came to a halt before an impossibly large tree. And at the base of it was... a door?

"What the actual fuck?" the druid cursed, circling the enormous oak. "This-- this wasn't here! There aren't even supposed to be trees like this in this climate! I've spent a few years in the Everwilds, and this would make some of their trees look like saplings."

"What's your point?" asked Sofia.

"My point is that you don't just get some random ultra-flora in the middle of a place like this, even with as much magic Praesarys generates, this is...  _wrong_. Something like this is environment-defining; the roots would be deforming the earth, the surrounding plant-life would either have to be competing massively for water and light or it would be all dead... But this field looks the same as the day I mapped it, save for this behemoth. This shouldn't be here."

"Well, it's here now. So I suppose we should get to what we're charged with." Zintiel inspected the doorway for traps but found none. He cautiously opened the door and led the group inside.

As the group made their way into the entrance hall, the torches on the walls flared to life. Again, Zintiel checked the area for traps, and yet again found none. This place was supposed to be dangerous, but so far, it looked like a perfectly normal tower, and that unnerved him.

They proceeded down a long hall and as they walked, the flames continuing to light themselves down the walls, before the hallway split into two paths with identical doors at each end.

After they'd inspected both the paths and the doors for traps or any clear sign of the correct way to go, Zintiel pulled out a pencil and a scrap of paper and marked the path they'd already come.

Cage peered over his shoulder and snorted. "That's hardly a map. I would know."

"Yeah, well it'll still lead us out so we don't get lost in this place," retorted Zintiel as he absently sketched the layout.

"I think we should go right," Diana put forth. "The paths look identical, so maybe they go to the same place. And if they don't, Zin's got his map if we need to backtrack."

"Are you sure?" Cage seemed reluctant to follow the young half-elf's lead.

"Here, let me," Cenobia interjected. He clutched his symbol of Sarenrae in his hand and prayed for guidance. He felt a warmth in the right side of his body and smiled. "Okay, I believe that Diana is correct, that we must go to the right."

Zintiel jolted upright. It was the first time he'd heard his boyfriend's voice since they'd left Gaia's. The sound put him more at ease, releasing a tightness in his chest he hadn't known was there, making him realise just how anxious he had become since they had entered this odd building. He rubbed Cenobia's back and smiled at him before going to check the door for traps.

But before he could, Diana rushed forward and crashed into the door. She bounced off it and landed on her ass with an exclamation of pain. Zintiel and Cenobia ran to check on her, but she picked herself up off the stone floor, muttering something about how it must be locked.

Cage's bear casually trod over to the door and sniffed at it. He raised himself up onto his hind legs and fell forward against the door. Without any issue, the solid slab of wood came crashing down onto the floor of the next room. The sound echoed through the strange chamber within.

The rest of the group turned to face Diana who had turned a deep shade of red. Before anyone could linger further on it, she escaped into the next room. As before, torches around the room sprang to life to reveal a large oval room with three nodes off to one side and what appeared to be an exit on the opposite side. The majority of the room was a lab of some sort, long tables with ancient vials covered in dust, pages upon pages of notes that seemed too involved for any of them to comprehend, and an empty shell of an exoskeleton of what looked to have been an enormous hercules beetle. Not just big for a beetle, this insect corpse was big for anything, when the creature was alive it would have to at least been Wick's equal in size.

Zintiel was the first to spot the carcass of the creature and hissed to the group, "Everyone, stay on alert! We don't know what killed that thing!" He was starting to feel that his paranoia wasn't quite as unfounded after all.

The group exchanged uneasy looks at finding the massive beetle remains.

"Well, guess we shouldn't be too shocked to find insects this large in a colossal tree..." Cenobia said softly.

Cage frowned and ran his hands through his thinning hair. "This makes less and less sense. Giant insects like this aren't native to our world, much less our plane of existence."  
"Perhaps they were summoned here?" Sofia added with a shrug. "This was a magic lab, yeah? I saw some pretty wild shit like that during my time at the Academy."

"Let's split up and check those side chambers, okay?" Cage suggested. "Wick can check the exit to see what's out the other door."

"Me and Cenobia can go check the room closest to the beetle," Diana volunteered.

"I'll take this one then," Sofia added, fluttering off to the room farthest from the beetle.

"Then that leaves you and me," Cage finished. "Let's see what's in that centre node."

Before Zintiel could argue, the druid was halfway to the little room. He rushed to catch up and checked it for traps before entering with the tall man. And inside, they found a library of tomes pertaining to the elemental planes of Flora and Fauna, among which they found a few scrolls containing useful spells. Cage inspected them and divvied them up between them based on which ones he figured he'd use. While Zintiel himself had no need for the scrolls, but he knew they could easily be worth gold or, even more useful, a favour.

In Sofia's node, she found a small library of tomes pertaining to planar magics and strewn papers with notes about how to move objects and people between planes as well as a potion that, according to the label, would protect her against the forces of chaos if she drank it.

In the last node, on the other side of Nicolas Cage and Zintiel, Diana and Cenobia walked into what looked like some sort of nest. Beady eyes glinted in the torchlight as tiny scaly purple heads peaked out from various nooks and crannies. More than just eyes shone in the light now, sharp fangs glittered in dozens of mouths.

Cenobia pulled Diana from the node back into the main lab.

"Guys! Little problem here!" Diana shouted. "I think we found what ate that big bug!"

Zintiel and Cage ran out and saw several of what looked like cat-sized purple dragons following Diana and Cenobia out of the side room. Cage looked back to see Sofia not far behind them, flying as quickly as she could. He extended his hand toward the dragons and pushed forth a wave of energy, hoping to calm them before things got out of control. It seemed to not affect the several that were already chasing them, but it appeared to keep the rest back in the nest from swarming out after them.

The tiny agitated dragons began to fan out around the group, and Diana reached for her sword, but Cenobia put his hand on hers.

"Wait, I might be able to communicate with them." He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. " _Y-yth re ti tenpiswo ekess levnim wux. Yth tepoha ergriff confn ekess vorq ihk vi turasjir_ ," he told them shakily. <W-we are not here to harm you. We have only come to look for a book.>

A dry voice cracked in Cenobia's head in Draconic, " _Mobi re throden turasjiric tenpiswo. Sjek coi ui vi turasjir wux sweekmon, clax ir vur jaseve._ " <There are many books here. If it is a book you seek, take one and leave.>

" _Axun, shar wer ir yth sweekmon, jahus xurwka ini wer xiekiv, svaust nomeno goawy belhala ekess, vi turasjir unlike wer ssifisv,_ " Cenobia explained cautiously. His words were halted, his Draconic had gone unpractised for quite some time. <Yes, but the one we seek, was made by the person, who this place belonged to, a book unlike the rest.>

A smoother, younger sounding voice with all the confidence of a leader spoke aloud and in the Common tongue of Praesarys. "Would this language be less difficult for you to communicate with us?"

Cage stared down at the tiny dragons from behind Cenobia in confusion. "You can speak Common?"

"Yes," the tallest of the dragons stepped forward and met Cage's eyes. There was an arrogance in them. "It was simply not the first language that was offered. And to vocalise the words aloud, it is more primitive than what we are accustomed to."

"Oh, of course," Cage nodded reverently. His travels had only brought him across a dragon once before, and that had been enough of an experience for him to know better than to disrespect or underestimate these tiny ones. "Please, it is as our friend has said; we are simply here for a book written by the master of this tower."

"So you understood the words which were spoken in our tongue then?" the dragon tilted his head curiously.

" _Si tira_ ," Cage answered. He saw a few of the dragons flinch at his accent.

Sofia fluttered forward towards them. " _Lae tira si_."

Diana simply shrugged. "Not a word. But, what, um, are y'all doing here? Have y'all been living here all this time?" She peered out over the waves of little dragons that continued to pour into the room. "And gods, how many of y'all are there?"

One of the other dragons fluttered into the air over its kin and up to the half-elf. He twirled excitedly before her, and his shrill voice was unnecessarily loud as he spoke, "There's loads of us here! We've been here for some time! We were all born here! We've never left!"

"Baz," an older sounding dragon scolded, the voice was the same as that who had first spoken to Cenobia. The dragon named Baz plopped down on Diana's shoulder and defiantly stared back at the other. Diana looked between them in confusion, but when Baz's pointed little face began to snuffle around in her hair, she couldn't help the little smile that pulled at the corners of her mouth. A little purple cloud came out with a disapproving snort from the older dragon.

"What Baz means is that the master of the tower brought us here for study, and after he was gone, we remained, sustained on whatever creatures wander in from outside," the leader of the dragons asserted himself again.

"Were you always so small?" Sofia asked.

" _We_  have been, yes. But if what is in our nest is of any indication, our ancestors were somewhat larger but had since shrunken under the master's influences, smaller with each generation born here," the elder dragon answered.

"So, what was this master doing here exactly?" Sofia hovered just above the floor near the dragons.

"This place was once a lab of sorts. Or perhaps a school? A privately owned place of magical learning and research. Some time ago, something went wrong with the master's planar experiment. This place was shifted into the Planes of Flora and Fauna. The beasts and dangers in this plane have claimed the lives of the people here. We are all that remains living of what was before."

Cage stroked his chin stubble thoughtfully, "Guess that explains how this place came out of nowhere and the giant bug corpse..."We came from the material plane. Some sort of alignment of powers must have slipped this lab back to its proper reality."

"Uhhhh, guys...?" Sofia piped up, anxiety creeping into her voice. "From what I remember of Planar studies... this sort of plane shift, it's temporary at best. I'm guessing we shouldn't take to much time unless we want to find out how all the researchers here died first hand."

The group's faces collectively paled.

Cage was the first to regain his composure. He straightened his robes and cleared his throat, putting on an air of confidence. "Well, for now, this place should still be connected to the prime material plane, but I agree, we should leave as soon as possible." He turned his attention to the elder dragon, "Once we've retrieved the book we seek, would you like to leave when we do? To be free of this place?"

"Until now, the planar shift has kept us here. To be free to explore the wilds again, we would like this very much," the elder answered for them all.

"Then it is settled. Now we just need to get the book so we can all get out of here," Diana began to head toward Wick who was still waiting at the door they needed to go through next.

The elder dragon made a strange sound akin to that of someone clearing her throat. "Baz?"

"But I want to go!" the young dragon whined loudly. "Please let me go with them, Quin!"

"Baz..." Quin's disapproval was evident.

"Quinthes, I would also like to go," the smooth-voiced dragon chimed in. "I can make certain that Baz remains unharmed and stays out of trouble."

"If you are certain, Rinneth, then I will allow it," Quinthes assented. She led the rest of the dragons back into their nest to await for the group's return.

Rinneth took flight and circled around the group as they crossed the room to Wick and settled down atop Cenobia's satchel. "Since no introductions were made earlier, my cousin who has taken to the girl is Baz the Loud. His title is rather self-evident. Quinthes the Eternal is the oldest of our kin here. And I am Rinneth... the, umm, Tall." He mumbled the last part, seemingly embarrassed of his stature in comparison to the group he'd just joined. "Not all of us have names and titles, just the eldest, though none are quite so old as Quinthes."

Cenobia smiled kindly at the dragon. He was the tallest of the dragons they'd seen. "I am Cenobia. The one with Baz is Diana. The gathlain woman is Sofia. The ginger elf is Zintiel, and the tall man is Nicolas Cage, but we usually just call him Cage."

"Cage seems an odd name for a human," Rinneth commented.

"Perhaps, but that's my name," the druid chimed in. He patted his bear on the head. "And this is my bear, Wick."

Wick grunted at the sight of the dragons. He wasn't sure quite what to make of the tiny creatures. As he turned his head back toward the next door, he smelled something rotten, causing his nose to crinkle in disgust. He cautiously pawed it open and peered inside. The bear fell into the shadows of the corridor and, with him, the small pale man who was accompanying Cage. The young man grinned at him and continued creeping along. The smell grew stronger as they approached the end of the corridor where they both froze in their tracks.

Not picking up on the vanishing act of her brother and Cage’s bear, Diana barrelled down the hallway with the rest of the group on her heels. She felt something squelch beneath her boot. “Ugh! Gross! What is this!” exclaimed the half-elf, backing into Cenobia. She saw wriggling vines extending from a great yellow blossom. And then she noticed that several of the vines were wrapped around humanoid skeletons, skeletons that began to move seemingly of their own accord, the vines working the joints as if they were makeshift muscles animating the dried old bones. She felt the warmth of Cenobia’s hands as they clasped around her arms; there was a slight tremor in them. He was scared. She touched her hand to one of his and then stepped forward, breaking their connection, and drew her sword.


	14. Into Battle!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group encounters their first real danger in the tower!

Baz leapt from Diana's shoulder and began darting in and out of the shambling skeletons, nipping at them. A well-placed arrow launched from the shadows, skewering one of the undead creatures through its eye socket. The skeleton staggered a step, its body bowing back in an unnatural fashion before beginning to right itself and shambling forward once more, seemingly unperturbed by the arrow that now pierced its skull.

Both Sofia and Nicolas Cage flinched backwards in surprise, the druid because he was rather near the vine-wrapped zombie who'd been shot and the gathlain because she had thought that the shifty Winter elf had abandoned them.

Diana slashed through one of the undead creatures with her blade, but its vines quickly began to knit the bones back together as the skeletal creature reformed. "Ugh! How do we kill these things?!" She backed once again into Cenobia, who had stepped up behind her, and the two tumbled to the ground.

Which was lucky. Because no sooner had they fallen than a spurt of fire erupted from Sofia's mouth, the sudden eruption of heat nearly scorching the young half-elf. There was an otherworldly hissing shriek as the majority of the zombies were engulfed, though it wasn't the skeletons' mouths that moved. The large plant behind the zombies recoiled away from the fire, vibrating and shuddering in rage and pain. As the vines were consumed by flame, the skeletons dropped to the ground, once again lifeless.

"It's the plant! We'll need to destroy it!" Cage called out as the flames continued to whiz by him, obliterating the plant's vines from more of the skeletons. When the blast stopped, he realised that his robes had caught fire from being so close to Sofia's attack and frantically tried to pat them out. Very suddenly water splashed down on him, dousing the flames but thoroughly drenching him as well. He pushed his mess of thinning brown hair back from his face to see Cenobia's hand recoiling.

"Apologies, sir," the Summer elf's voice a timid whisper.

"Worry about that later," the tall man half-smiled and turned back to the large plant that blocked their path. Now that the fire was abating... was it... getting closer? His smile quickly vanished. "Worry about _that_ now."

The massive yellow plant had begun shambling forward, thick root-like vines pulling forward over the stone, dragging it closer inch by menacing inch. The larger, threatening-looking vines of its upper branches began to quest out, searching for prey. Again an arrow shot from the darkness and sunk into the thick vines. Wick finally emerged from the shadows and tore into the plant with his claws. The vines writhed and shot out toward Wick, sensing a potential meal in its reach; they began trying to ensnare a new victim. The pod of the flower swelled. While its attention was on the bear, Diana lunged forward and cleft the large yellow pod in twain before Cage or Cenobia could stop her. Pollen exploded outward from the violent impact filling the hall like a thin mist. The plant monster fell into a quickly shrivelling heap. But the pollen that was now settling on the ground had coated the party, and its paralytic effect had taken hold of them.

Moments of frozen silence passed, not even the twitch of a finger possible by any member of the band. A clattering noise soon began to invade the silent hallway. Zintiel watched in helpless horror as a giant ant nearly the size of Wick crept into the corridor behind the rest of the group.

It quested forward, quickly bringing it to the still frozen body of Sofia, its antenna investigating her still form. It would only be a few moments before it registered her as easy prey.

Cenobia very quickly prayed to his goddess. Warmth kindled inside him and, like a breath of fresh air, he felt the effect of the stunning spores wane. He closed his eyes and continued his prayer as a streak of flame leapt from his outstretched hand toward the ant. It struck the beast in the face, forcing it to reel backwards with a cacophonous sound of pain and confusion.

Another arrow whistled through the group from the dark end of the corridor with incredible accuracy, striking the ant between its eyes. Relief swept over Cenobia in the realisation that he was not alone in fighting the large ant. The creature, now on fire and with an arrow lodged in its head, bucked furiously, threatening to crush Sofia who still had not yet recovered from her exposure to the pollen.

Be it that she had the most fierce effort of will or the strongest constitution, Diana was the next to recover, though her movements were stiff as she forcibly shook off her paralysis. She launched herself at the large ant, not having the control to yet truly grip or swing her blade yet; she settled for brute might, striking the ant in a clumsy tackle and sending it skittering down the hallway belly up. An arrow whizzed by her face, distracting her, and she was sent flying by the flailing of one of the giant ant's hairy legs. She patted off the flames that had caught on her cloak.

Sofia, finally to pick herself up off the ground, brushed dirt from her dress and flung an orb of acid at the ant. It reacted strangely with the flames, creating a small explosion. With a crater of stinking smoking flesh in its abdomen, the ant stopped moving altogether.

Zintiel finally emerged from the shadows. He lightly ran a gloved hand down Cenobia's back as he passed by him to retrieve his arrows. "Well, shit." As soon as he touched the shaft, it turned to ash.

Diana strode angrily over to her brother. She grabbed him by the front of his cloak and got in his face. She was nowhere near as tall as her mother, but she still had a good few inches on him. "You could have shot me!"

"But I didn't?" he answered weakly. "You're fine, aren't you?" He had no doubt in his mind that he was going to make the shot, but Diana was not one to be trifled with, especially when she was angry.

"Hey!" Nicolas Cage interrupted, putting a hand on Diana's shoulder. "There will be time for you to yell at each other as we go, but we need to keep moving."

Diana roughly let go of her brother and pulled away from the druid angrily, clearly ready to pick a fight with him next.

"That was a scout." He pointed at the dead ant. "The longer we stay here, the more we run the risk of encountering hundreds--maybe thousands--of ants. And not your average ants, Diana, ants that size. And I'll tell you what, I ain't about to stick around and wait to get eaten." He stalked off down the hall, stepping over the dead husk of the yellow flower pod. He stopped with his hand on the doorknob and turned about, pulled a vial from his robes, and collected some of the pollen that coated the area, before exiting through the next door.

Wick the bear followed behind his master. Zintiel crept along behind them, eager to escape the wrath of his sister. Sofia and Cenobia followed after, and behind the rest, trod Diana. The dragons excitedly swarmed around them as they walked.

There was an acrid silence that lingered over the group. Their first actual combat together had been just short of disaster. They split up as they looked over the next room, a large vacant dormitory. As with the rooms previous, the torches on the walls illuminated as they entered and was also void of traps. In his search, Zintiel did turn up a strange blue potion that upon uncorking smelled like the ocean.

"Hey, Cage, what do you make of all this?" Zintiel strode over to him and casually passed him the potion.

Cage held the vial up in the torchlight and inspected it. "The potion or this place?"

He shrugged. "Both?"

"I think that this Atan Kessaelon or whoever was running this place got in a little over his head, don't you?" the druid answered drily, pocketing the potion. "I also get the feeling that we shouldn't linger here any longer than necessary."

"And why's that?" Sofia interrupted.

Cage jumped in surprise, not having realised she'd approached with her nearly silent wings. "It's just a theory, but this place, this tower, it wasn't here a few days ago. And I don't know when, but it will likely go back to wherever it was within a matter of time. And when it does, I don't want to get stuck there until it decides to cycle back around again."

"The dragons told us this place was shifted into the Planes of Flora and Fauna," Sofia corrected.

"Yes, well, if that's the case, I still don't want to get stuck there. Ya dig?"

Sofia snickered and arched an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, I dig."

After several rooms of dormitories, a large set of double doors led them into what looked like a commissary area. No torches sprung to life as they entered, and yet no one had any trouble seeing due to bright streams of sunlight that flooded in through a gaping hole in the wall. Half of the room had either fallen away or been ripped from the building. And through this unintentional window, the group could see massive trees and other plantlife; they could hear all sorts of fauna in the forest below.

Sofia hovered over to the edge and peered down into the greenery below. "Anyone afraid of heights?"

Cenobia, Diana, and Cage inched as close as they dared to the expanse of open air.

"That's-- that's impossible! We're hundreds--no thousands--of feet up! But we never went up any stairs or inclines! How is this possible?!" Cage exclaimed, leaning further over the edge.

Diana pulled him back by the scruff of his robe. "Watch it. Impossible or not, it's still a helluva drop to fall down."

"The master of this place was one of the top mages of his age!" Baz explained in a voice that would have been booming were it not coming from a creature so tiny. "Our ancestors say he was skilled in many studies, but spacial and dimensional magics most of all! While I don't fully understand  _how_ he altered the space of this tower, it seems to be both vertical and horizontal as well as planarly displaced!"

"You seems to have a good grasp of magic," Sofia said with mild respect in her tone.

"Not much to do but hunt or read in this place, and all there are to read are the books on magic," Baz offered with something that passed as a shrug.

While the rest of the group was observing the impossibility of the tower, Zintiel had spotted something shiny in the corner of the room and made off to investigate. In a large space away from the clusters of tables and chairs lay an enormous nest, inside of which he found a bounty of gold coins as well as bits of bits of random rubbish, and nestled securely amongst it lay two huge speckled light brown eggs. He carefully stowed as much of the gold as he could without disturbing the eggs and rejoined with the group as they moved away from the hole.

"Find anything else interesting?" Cage asked Zintiel quietly.

"Not really. Although..." Zintiel subtly pointed at the eggs in the nest.

Cage's eyes went wide with recognition. "Oh my..." He nervously looked back out the torn wall and began to walk noticeably faster. "We  _really_ should be going."  


	15. The Fast Bear Special

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The party reaches the top of the tower!

The next door led to what seemed to be an antechamber for what could have only been the top floor, the wizard’s private sanctum. The red-lacquered double doors that preceded the wizard’s sanctum were covered in ornate designs.

Diana braced her shoulder against the thick doors and pushed with all her might. She tumbled forward as they easily gave way under her force, and she crashed into… soft earth? She picked herself off the ground and brushed the dirt from her armour.

The group piled in behind her, and torches along the walls flared to life. In the centre of the room was a massive dead tree covered in limp vines. Between the torch brackets, the walls were lined with towering bookcases, and at the far end of the room, stone steps led up to a gold inlaid desk under a thick layer of dust. On the floor to the right of the desk was a cracked, empty pot, and atop the desk, on proud display, lie a very thick book with gold embellishments on its pristine green leather cover. Even across the room, the words “Planar Bindings: Ties to Our World and Beyond” and “Atan Kessaelon” were clearly legible in the flickering of the torchlight as well as the Kessaelon family crest.

“That must be it!” Diana cried out and rushed towards the book.

At the moment her hands touched the book, there was a thunderous groaning as the dead tree stirred to life. The thick vines stretched out as the plant creature stretched to its full height, the stench of rotted vegetation spread through the room as brownish green sludge dripped from the tree’s branches and trunk as it awoke from its slumber.

A loud thud echoed through the chamber as Zintiel backed into the double doors, his arm outstretched protectively in front of Cenobia, pushing him into the doors as well. He knew the creature from one of the many bedtime stories his father had told him as a child, of shambling mounds that devoured the flesh of defenceless elven children who wandered too far from home. His hands quaked with fear, panic setting in. Every instinct told him to run. The doors opened inward. They couldn’t run. They couldn’t afford to turn their backs on this creature of his childhood nightmares. They had to fight. He had to protect Cenobia. He had to protect his sister. After going however long without prey, he didn’t think the shambler would be picky in its choice of meals, but it was also sensible that he, Diana, and Cenobia would be the most likely targets to be eaten first. He had to make sure they would be safe. He gritted his teeth and turned to face the danger, but then the creature let out a bellowing roar from somewhere within its shaggy foliage, sending a deep shiver of fear down his spine. He would make sure they were safe… from a distance. He scurried up to the shadows atop the high bookcases and quickly loosed an arrow at the shambler.

The shambling mound screeched angrily and flailed in the direction the arrow had come from, but Zintiel was well out of its grasp. He shouted down at the group, “Stay out of reach of its vines if you can! It will try to eat you if it gets ahold of you!”

“How do y--?” Diana started but was interrupted by one of the creature’s vines swinging in her direction.

“Later!” her brother called back, his voice moving closer to her. Another arrow soared overhead and found its mark in the upper torso of the shambler, causing the creature’s vine to veer away from Diana and up towards him instead.

Diana unsheathed her sword and sliced through the vine that had nearly collided with her. It wriggled and twitched on the floor momentarily before going limp. Diana grinned with a foolhardy bravery, and while distracted by her brief victory of the single vine, another of the shambler’s vines lashed her from behind.

Sofia sucked in a breath and prepared to unleash a torrent of flame as she had with the yellow plant in the corridor, but Cage stopped her.

“Wait!” the druid interjected. “Angle your flame so you don’t accidentally hit Diana!”

Sofia blinked at the man irritably. She wasn’t about to admit that he was right. She fluttered around the large plant monster, setting herself up to where she could see both Diana and the pair of Cage and Cenobia before unleashing a stream of fire from her mouth.

“Cenobia, the fire worked on that other plant in the hallway, so if you can do what you did with the ant again, go for it,” Cage directed.

With the fingers of one hand clasped around his holy symbol and his other outstretched toward the creature, he called upon Sarenrae’s flame to strike the creature. A jet of flame burst from his fingertips towards the heart of the shambler. The plant monster screeched and writhed in agony.

Finding their own openings between the flames, the two tiny dragons swarmed over the shambler scratching it with their tiny claws and tails and spraying it with bursts of noxious purple mist.

“Good! Great work, Rinneth, Baz!” Cage praised. “Wick, your turn, buddy!” The large brown bear rushed the shambling mound and tore into it with his sharp claws.

The shambler screeched and flailed its vines about wildly, knocking into Wick and Diana and sending them flying back into the bookcases. It wrapped one of its thick slimy vines around the prone half-elf and began to drag her back toward its a gaping moss-covered maw.

In a panic, Diana grabbed at one of the legs of the heavy wooden desk and held on for dear life. Another arrow flew from the shadows and sunk deep into the squishy plant matter of the upper torso of the creature. It let out another shrill screech and dropped Diana.

Diana picked up her sword and angrily hacked at its vines.

Nicolas Cage began to mumble to himself and draw diagrams in the air with his finger as the action continued around him in the same pattern he had directed earlier. More blasts of flames from Sofia and Cenobia. More ripped vines from Wick and Diana. More arrows from Zintiel and more poison breath from the dragons. This thing was coming apart, albeit slowly. They needed something big to finish it off, to take it down once and for all.

“That’s it!” he cried out, pounding his fist into his open palm. “Cenobia, do you have any spells that can augment someone’s strength?”

“I do. Why?” The shy cleric didn’t tear his eyes away from the shambling mound.

“I need you to cast it on Diana. I think if we both make her stronger, this just might work.” He turned his attention to Sofia, whose fire had run out so she’d begun to hurl balls of glowing green acid at the creature. “Sofia!”

“What?!”

“I need you to shrink Wick!”

“Why?!”

“When I say now, I just need you to do it, okay?”

“Fine!”

“Zintiel?” called out Cage.

“What up?” a voice returned from the shadows.

“I need you to keep this thing busy for my plan to work!”

“Can do! But what plan?”

“Okay, guys. We’re gonna throw my bear through that thing. Well, more accurately, Diana is. We’ve been chopping off its limbs, but we need to get at the heart of the problem.”

“Hold up a minute. How?” Diana dodged another swipe of the massive vines as she called across the room.

“Cenobia and I gonna make you really strong, and Sofia’s gonna shrink Wick, and then Wick’ll jump into your arms, so you can throw him. And meanwhile, your brother is gonna distract the creature from killing the rest of us. Sound good?” Cage explained.

Sofia grinned. “That’s so crazy it just might work. I love it!”

“Okay, Zintiel! Whenever you’re ready!” Cage nervously rolled up the sleeves of his robe.

An arrow zipped through the air and planted itself in the shambling mound, and within moments, a small robed figure emerged from the shadows, landing away from the group. Zintiel picked up a piece of the broken flower pot and chucked it at the shambler. “Hey slimy, get a load of these.” He pulled his hood down to reveal his large pointed ears. “I hear you’ve got a taste for elves.” Zintiel shook his head, deliberately making his earrings jingle.

The creature’s vines shot towards him. The pale elf jumped and dodged this way and that.

Wick murmured curiously as he shrunk down to the size of a large dog beside Diana. Cage began to summon the spell from within him and directed it toward Diana, and beside him, Cenobia did the same.

Diana flexed her muscles and grinned. She didn’t look any different, but she felt  _good_. “Ready when you are!” Diana called back to Cage.

The druid nodded. “Wick, do the thing!”

And with that, the bear leapt into Diana’s arms. Diana wound up and launched Wick from her grasp. The bear flew through the air at the completely unaware shambling mound. As Sofia’s spell faded, Wick grew larger and picked up momentum, and by the time he made contact with the shambler, he ripped a hole right through the centre of it.

The vines that had been pursuing Zintiel fell limp, lifeless as the creature they were attached to. Zintiel plopped down on the ground, breathing heavily. “That…” he couldn’t help the laughter that came out, “that was amazing.”

The laughter was infectious, and soon everyone’s voices had joined in. The laughter faded into a collective sigh. They had survived. And what was more, they had actually done pretty well when they started working together.

“So we just need to grab the book and get out of here. Zintiel, do you still have your little map?” Cage asked.

Zintiel stood up. He pulled the scrap of paper out of his pocket and held it up. “Yep! Diana, that book looks pretty heavy. You wanna grab it so we can get outta here?”

“Sure thing!” Diana eagerly rushed toward the desk and, far too occupied on her task, failed to notice the pile of shambler goo in her path. She slipped on the stone steps, and her head cracked against the hard edge of the desk.

“Diana!” Zintiel and Cenobia both screamed and ran to her, carefully avoiding the mess the shambler had left.

Diana groaned and sat on the steps. Her fingertips brushed the bleeding gash, drawing out an involuntary wince.

“Diana, honey, let me,” Cenobia sat down next to her and held up a hand over the cut. Light and warmth passed over the wound, and when he brought his hand down moments later, any sign of the cut had gone save for the trail of blood.

Diana wiped the blood on the sleeve of her shirt. “Thanks, Cenobia.”

“Of course, dear. Now let’s grab that book and be off.” He smiled kindly at her.

Diana hoisted the tome off the table, and they followed the trail of Zintiel’s crude map back through the antechamber into the commissary. As they crossed by the large gaping hole in the room, they could see the sun dropping lower in the sky, steadily moving closer to the horizon. In the seconds they were staring out at the exposed Plane of Flora and Fauna, there was a great rush of wind and an ear-piercing screech as an enormous bird swooped toward them. At the sight of the bird, Baz and Rinneth scurried into Cenobia’s shoulder bag and took cover.

Cage’s mind went back to the nest he and Zintiel had seen. “This was what I was afraid of earlier! Don’t stop! Just run! She won’t follow us! Probably…”

“What do you mean, ‘probably’?!” Sofia’s wings carried her as fast as they could, but the gusts caused by the huge wings of the bird tore her off-course, and she was having trouble keeping up.

“Sofia, take my hand!” Diana cried out. She tucked the book under one arm and reached out with her other. Sofia’s fingers grasped at her hand, and Diana caught her by the forearm, curling the tiny winged woman into her and running as fast as she could. “Sorry for any discomfort!”

“I don’t give a shit about discomfort right now! I just don’t want to be eaten by that thing!” Sofia called back over the noise of the wind.

They didn’t stop running until they had made it all the way through the multiple dormitories and connecting corridors back to the lab where they had first met Rinneth and Baz and their kin.

Cenobia clutched at a stitch in his side. Zintiel took several large gulps of water from his canteen. Diana released Sofia, put the book on a table, and doubled over. Sofia stretched out her ivy wings and swept them back and forth until they felt comfortable again and took a healthy swig from her hip flask. Cage only panted lightly, seeming oddly well-accustomed to running away from things at top speeds. Wick, however, collapsed on the cold stone floor, looking very much like he wanted nothing more than to take a nice long nap.

“How-- are-- you-- not-- dying?” Diana wheezed at Cage between gasps of breath. “You’re so  _old_!”

The druid chuckled and straightened his robes. “While that may be the scariest thing I've ever run from, that wasn't nearly the hardest or longest I've run from something scary. Hell, that may not even make it into my top ten fleeings.”

Rinneth and Baz crawled out of Cenobia’s bag once again and returned to their clan’s nest. After a few minutes, the cat-sized purple dragons reemerged with a flood of dragons the same size and even tinier.

“I take it you have finished that which you had come to do?” came the wispy voice of Quinthes.

“We have,” Diana answered, holding up the large book.

“Good, then let us all return to our home plane at last.” Quinthes led the flock of tiny dragons behind the group as they made their way out of the tower. Rinneth fluttered around Cenobia before at last settling on his shoulder.

“Are you no longer leading them?” Cenobia asked the dragon.

“No,” he replied, “I intend to follow you lot, at least for a little while. Quinthes will lead until I return.” Rinneth’s directed Cenobia’s gaze to Diana who was happily chatting with Baz about the highlights of the day’s adventure. “While he stays, I will too. To watch over him.”

“Baz does seem to be rather attached to Diana, doesn’t he? And Quinthes agreed to this?”

“She did. Unless I have misread things, you and the pale one are family to her?”

“We are. Diana is Zintiel’s little sister. Did you plan on staying with her as well?”

“Oh. Do you not all live together?”

“Zintiel and I live in the woods behind Diana’s mother’s inn. It’s not that far, but it’s nice for us to have our own space.”

“Your own space…” Rinneth pondered the concept, having never had the opportunity to really have space away from his clan save for when he would go hunting but even then they always went in groups. “I suppose I will stay with you and Zintiel then. It will be interesting to experience this… space.”

When they exited through the final door of the tower, back to the clearing, night had just fallen. There the dragons led by Quinthes split off from the group.

“Where will you go?” Cage broached the elder dragon.

“Somewhere quiet, where we can reacclimate ourselves to this world in peace,” Quinthes answered, “but we will remain nearby. At least until Rinneth and Baz rejoin us.” She continued leading the rest of the dragons into the surrounding woods.

Diana’s stomach rumbled loudly, and it very suddenly occurred to everyone that the last meal they all had eaten was breakfast.

“Oh, hang on a moment. I know I’ve got something here,” Cenobia muttered and dug around in his satchel. “A-ha!” he exclaimed and pulled out a large lump wrapped in cloth. He peeled the cloth back to reveal a spiced tea loaf. He broke off a piece and passed it around. After everyone had gotten their fill, he returned the empty cloth to his bag and drew up a ball of flame in his palm for them to see their way home by.

Nicolas Cage gasped and pointed back behind them at the ancient tree that housed the tower, now illuminated by the firelight. “Guys! Look!”

“Yeah, it’s the tower. What about--? Holy Sting of the Lady!” Zintiel stood awestruck staring and pointing at the same thing Cage was. Or the lack of it.

The colossal tree that they had exited not half an hour prior was simply gone, like it had never been there, just as Nicolas Cage’s maps had originally indicated.

“So… that’s why they told us to leave immediately. It really was time sensitive.” Cage’s voice had a hollow quality to it. “ _Fuck_.”

“Fuck indeed,” Sofia agreed, slinging back another swig from her flask.

“Come on, y’all. It’s supper time!” Diana said with a grin, setting off at a brisk pace back home to the Dragon’s Tooth.


	16. A Moment of Rest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief intermission before the party finishes their first task

The group followed Nicolas Cage as he returned Wick to his stall in the stables where the large brown bear promptly curled up and fell fast asleep. Instead of going around to the front door, the lot of them went in through the kitchen door in the back and immediately began filling plates for themselves, an action much less brazen than might be implied, given all but Cage and Sofia had worked there for years. They were all halfway through supper when Gaia walked in.

“Zin, get off my counters, will ya?” Gaia scolded. Before she’d even finished speaking, he’d already jumped down and continued eating his dinner. She looked them over, and aside from being a little dirty, they all looked to be just as healthy as when they’d left albeit exhausted. However, there were two new additions to the group, small purple dragons. Her eyes lit up in excitement, but she knew she didn’t have time to ask everything she wanted to while filling orders. “So what was it y’all were sent to do?” she asked as she loaded a tray with plates of food for patrons in the bar.

Diana pointed to the heavy tome they’d retrieved that lay on the kitchen table.

Gaia peered over at the book. “Huh, seems a bit simple for all this fuss, but I won’t complain about y’all not being sent in for worse. Well, my dears, eat up. I’m sure I’ll hear all about it after close. But until then, I’ve got customers to tend to.”

Nicolas Cage and Sofia stood up simultaneously.

“And you’ve got two more coming,” Cage smirked.

Gaia chuckled. “Let me know what you’d like. It’s on the house.”

Cage followed behind her with an extra skip in his step. “Well, if you insist!”

“I do. The five of you came back in one piece, and I’d say that it’s the least I can do for protecting my kids. I know they’re not helpless, but any bit of help you gave is still appreciated.”

After Cage and Sofia left, Zintiel sat down across from Diana, who continued eating her dinner without really paying him any attention. “Hey,” he broached gently.

She grunted in acknowledgement. She was listening, though she kept her head down, eyes on her meal.

“I’m sorry I scared you today.”

She continued to eat in silence, letting a heavy awkward quite fall between them.

“I was so worried about keeping you safe that it didn’t occur to me ‘what if I missed?’ and that’s--”

“Fucked up?” she finished for him, finally looking up from her food to lock eyes with her brother. “Look, we gotta keep each other safe, I get that. But you gotta trust that I can get out of my own shit sometimes. Or at least give me a heads up. And maybe I overreacted a bit, cos I know you’ve got some good aim, but I’ve never been so close to your shots before. So yeah, it was a bit scary.”

Zintiel held up his mug of water. “To trust?”

“To trust.” Diana clinked his cup with her own and grinned. “And to adventure.”

Zintiel smirked back at her. His little sister might not be getting the type of adventure she’d wanted, but she certainly was getting something. And he was getting to watch over her while she did, which did ease some of his anxiety.

Cenobia picked up their plates just as he had with their other two companions and carried them off to the wash basin.

“ _Ussta che_ , I’ll see you back home in a little while, alright?” Zintiel kissed him on the cheek before heading out the kitchen door and disappearing in the Umber Forest.

Diana also bid Cenobia goodnight. She was exhausted. She washed up and went straight to sleep. Well, almost. She carried the huge book down to her mother’s room and locked the door. She knew it would be safe there until they could carry it back to the High Captain the next day. As stressful as that first mission had been, she couldn’t deny that she’d also had fun. She’d gotten her first taste of adventure, and she was eager for more. Not the next jobs from Ser Michael, of course, him and his ‘favours’ could go die in a fire. But once they were free and clear, she couldn’t wait to set out on her own terms, now far more sure of her ability to do so. Baz curled up around her head on her pillow and fell asleep shortly after Diana.

Even after a full day, once everyone was finished with their dinner, Cenobia went straight to work cleaning the kitchen. The rhythm of the familiar tasks comforted him in a way that little else could. He had scarcely felt so rattled by anything since his mentor’s passing, which had been when he’d first started working at Gaia’s. He scrubbed plates and cups and put them in their places, and when there was nothing left, he brewed himself some tea and sat down in the quiet solitude of the kitchen, alone with his thoughts.

Overall, it hadn’t really been all that bad, aside from the giant eagle at the end… and the yellow flower’s pollen… and the shambling mound that wanted to eat them… and Diana nearly fracturing her skull-- Okay, maybe it was definitely a little bad, but they had survived the first task and were that much closer to freedom. There was a lingering thought nagging at him though… Why was the High Captain after that book? Why was he or perhaps one of his peers at the top of the political food chain so interested in planar theory and its applications? Praesarys had always been incredibly magically advanced, but what was so important about planar magic to the government? He doubted he’d ever know the answers to these questions and tried to focus on questions he could find answers for, like where Zintiel was sneaking off to. It was like Zintiel to be secretive but not with him.

Rinneth curiously followed him through the woods to the small apartment built into one of the trees of the Umber Forest. The home was dark and empty when they arrived. Cenobia pursed his lips. He knew Zintiel would tell him when he was ready, but it didn’t stop him from being curious about wherever his boyfriend was. However, like Diana, the day was catching up with him too. He had just enough energy to make it home and wash up before tumbling into bed himself.

Rinneth stretched out in the space in the bed where Zintiel normally slept. He didn’t mind the fluff of the blankets, but he plotted to make himself a proper nest in the morning.

Meanwhile, in the bar, Sofia and Cage filled Gaia in on all the day’s events. The mysterious tower that stretched skyward with no stairs that had vanished shortly after they’d exited, the tiny purple dragons, and all the giant wildlife that tried to kill them.

Gaia showed polite interest while working the bar, though she grew noticeably more enthusiastic at the mention of the dragons. She got a chuckle out of finding Baz all snuggled up with Diana when she checked in on her daughter after closing up shop for the night. When she returned to her own room, she found the hefty book her children and their new friends had just retrieved. She curiously turned through the pages of Atan Kessaelon’s planar research. The words were very involved and didn’t make a whole hell of a lot of sense to her, but there were quite a few diagrams detailing the mechanics of transferring objects back and forth through the different planes and even some theorising the transfer of places and even the possibility of merging the planes if she was reading it correctly.

She pondered what Ser Michael or the other generals might want with this information, and each conclusion she came to unsettled her more than the last. She desperately wished she had Athras there to confer with. Or even better, her father, who would at least understand the true depth of what was in the book and could tell her just how worried she should be about it. She closed the book and tried to sleep. It wouldn’t do for her to dwell on it now since she couldn’t do anything about it.


End file.
